Legal and Management
Anita ‘Lady A’ White Makes Her Case as a Black Female Independent Artist: ‘Sometimes All We Have Is Our Name’
Anita “Lady A” White spelled out her stage name squabble with country trio Lady A, formerly known as Lady Antebellum, in an interview with ABC News Live Prime yesterday (July 14). “I have built this name for decades before they were born, and I’ve been building it,” the 61-year-old singer argued as part of her case during the TV segment. She later compared the “grind” of independent musicians to BIPOC, or Black, Indigenous people of color, saying “Sometimes all we have is our name. We don’t want to have that taken from us. Our culture gets taken, our music gets taken. This is more important for those that come behind me.” In June, the country trio (Hillary Scott, Charles Kelley and David Haywood) announced on&n...
Jay-Z, Yo Gotti and Team Roc File Suit Against Mississippi Prison Over Health Conditions
In the midst of the raging COVID-19 pandemic across the nation and in Mississippi prisons, Jay-Z, Yo Gotti and Team ROC have filed a class-action lawsuit against on behalf of 227 Mississippi inmates against the state’s new Department of Corrections Commissioner Nathan Burl Cain and Centurion (the healthcare provider for all Mississippi prisons) in an effort to address the dire conditions for prisoners in lockdown during the pandemic. According to a copy of a sworn COVID-19 questionnaire filled out by some Parchman prisoners provided to Billboard by a spokesperson for Team ROC, the men describe a lack of COVID testing protocols in the century-old prison, reports of officials saying that corona tests in short supply, poor social distancing, a lack of PPE and confinement in cl...
Yeasayer Drop Copyright Lawsuit Against The Weeknd & Kendrick Lamar for ‘Black Panther’ Hit ‘Pray For Me’
Yeasayer voluntarily dismissed the copyright lawsuit against The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar over their Black Panther: The Album highlight “Pray For Me.” In this dismissal obtained by Billboard today (July 10), the indie rock band and its record label We Are Free “confirmed to their satisfaction that no copyright infringement occurred” by the defendants The Weeknd (real name Abel Makkonen Tesfaye), Lamar (Kendrick Lamar Duckworth), Canadian producers Doc McKinney (Martin “Doc” McKinney) and Frank Dukes (Adam King Feeney), and labels Universal Music Group, Interscope, Aftermath and Top Dawg Entertainment. In February 2018, “Pray For Me” propelled both The Weeknd and Lamar into another echelon of superstardom when it...
Executive Turntable: Royalty Network Names Black Empowerment Advisory Council, Grand Hustle Founder Launches Music Incubator
Indie publisher The Royalty Network has launched Black Empowerment Thru Music, a new program designed to connect emerging black musicians, producers, songwriters and entrepreneurs with music industry leaders. As part of the initiative, the company is now inviting professional and established musicians, artists, attorneys, songwriters and others to get involved in the effort in a multitude of ways – whether by providing free studio time, financially supporting designated organizations, donating instruments to schools, matching grants or mentoring, among other activities. A number of established industry players have signed up to serve on the Black Empowerment Thru Music advisory council, including artists stic & M-1 of hip-hop duo dead prez, producer Darien Bankhead, entrepreneur and ex...
Marjorie Garcia Promoted to Partner at King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano
Los Angeles-based attorney Marjorie García has been promoted to partner at King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano. The promotion makes García one of the few female Latinas to make partner in a major law firm. García, who previously worked as an attorney at Universal Music Latino, has spearheaded the expansion of the Latin music department at KHPS, a broad practice with particular emphasis on entertainment law, complex business litigation, real estate, banking and corporate finance. Her roster of clients includes Juanes, J Balvin, Los Tigres del Norte, Gloria Trevi, Carla Morrison and the production team of Andrés Torres and Mauricio Rengifo, among others. “When I started out, there weren’t a lot of faces or voices like mine that I could look up to within my field, so I had to forge my own pat...
The Chicks Switch Representation to John Silva’s Silva Artist Management
Less than a month before the Chicks’ first studio album in 14 years arrives, the trio has changed artist management. The Chicks, who dropped Dixie from their name earlier today (June 25), have inked with John Silva’s Silva Artist Management (SAM), Billboard has confirmed. Among the other artists repped by SAM are Foo Fighters, St. Vincent and Nine Inch Nails. The group has been managed by Simon Renshaw for more than 20 years until he retired two years ago. Since then, the Chicks had been repped by Monotone/LBI Entertainment, who also manage Vampire Weekend, Jack White and Margo Price, Jamie Foxx, LCD Soundsystem and Amber Mark, among others. In March, Natalie Maines and sisters Emily Strayer and Martie Maguire released “Gaslighter,” the first single and title track from t...
Trax Records Hit With Federal Copyright Infringement Lawsuit Over Royalties
Chicago-based Trax Records has been sued over its alleged failure to pay royalties. Artists Larry Heard and Richard Owens filed a federal copyright infringement lawsuit June 23 against Trax Records. Two days later, TaP Music Publishing announced that they are co-funding the legal action. Heard, professionally known as “Mr Fingers” and Owens said in court papers filed in the Northern District of Illinois that their lawsuit highlights the exploitation of the artists and their works, including unpaid royalties for various musical compositions and sound recordings that they created in the 1980s. Heard and Owens are also suing the Trax Records president Rachael Cain, known professionally as “Screamin’ Rachael.” They accuse Trax of “building its catalogue by taking advantage of unsophisticated b...
Twitch Users Are Getting Takedown Notices En Masse for the First Time: Here’s Why
A flurry of copyright takedown notices hit Twitch users last week, causing a storm on social media. Here’s what’s really going on and what to watch for next. Over the last week, users on gaming-focused livestream platform Twitch received a sudden flurry of takedown notices for clips of old videos using unlicensed background music. The more than 2,500 notices — which the RIAA filed on behalf of rights holders for recordings including Ariana Grande’s “7 Rings” and DNCE’s “Cake By The Ocean” — caused a storm on social media, with users complaining on Twitter they felt blindsided by the requests, some for clips dating as far back as 2017. Contrary to some users’ claims, Twitch’s Music Guidelines — which explicitly prohibit users from incorporating music into their streams wit...
Clearing His Name: Metropolitan CEO Says He’s Ready to Put Disastrous Albany Show Behind Him
Two years after an SMG executive accused him of stiffing his portion of a bill for a 2018 concert, John Scher says new evidence clears him of wrong-doing When John Scher was approached by an old friend about investing in a long-shot benefit concert, the 69-year-old promoter knew he should have walked away. But spellbound by the opportunity to work with superstar artists James Taylor and John Legend, Scher convinced himself that he could pull it off. Big mistake. “I don’t know why I let myself get dragged into these things,” Scher says of the cancelled 2018 concert supporting Albany Med hospital that became a costly lawsuit and legal headache he didn’t need. In late 2017, Times Union Center manager Bob Belber approached Scher with a proposal to co-promote a black tie gala celebrating the re...
What Place Will Virtual Tipping Have in the Post-Pandemic Music Industry?
In China, virtual tipping provides a widespread, legitimate revenue stream for artists. Some think the pandemic will help (finally) normalize the practice Stateside. Andy Bothwell, a Brooklyn-based artist who performs under the moniker Astronautalis, has an online hub that lists links to his music, social media accounts and merch site. But after the coronavirus pandemic cut off the touring income he relies on to pay his bills, he added two new links to the top of the list: His Cash App and Venmo accounts, allowing fans to send him money directly. “I’m curious to see if I keep it there,” he says. His decision is more than a curiosity. As the pandemic has shut down economies across the globe, many artists are asking fans directly for cash — and music companies like SoundCloud and Spoti...
Big Hit Entertainment Global CEO Lenzo Yoon Talks New Role, ‘Localizing’ In the U.S. & Growing Artist Roster
“Any new service that Big Hit will present all starts from our business philosophy of ‘What content will fans enjoy the most?'” A decade into his tenure at Big Hit Entertainment, Lenzo Yoon is gearing up for some big moves — both in the company and in his personal life. One of the biggest takeaways of last week’s executive changeups at Big Hit Entertainment — the South Korean label home to the record-breaking BTS, Tomorrow X Together and GFriend — came in co-CEO Lenzo Yoon’s expanding his role to Global CEO and soon leading from the United States. The move not only pointed to a more global outlook for the company (which had its biggest year ever with a record $500 million in revenue in 2019), but also that it was official...
Why High-Profile Hacks Could Increase Amid Pandemic-Prompted Remote Work
Employees in non-office settings create cybersecurity vulnerabilities, experts say, and without intervention more entertainment companies could fall victim to hacks like the one that hit Grubman Shire. Hackers are threatening to release a treasure trove of private data stolen from one of Hollywood’s top talent law firms if it doesn’t pay a $42 million ransom — and experts say companies are increasingly vulnerable to attacks like this because their employees are working remotely during the novel coronavirus pandemic. Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks earlier this month was hit by a ransomware attack — with a group called REvil taking responsibility for the hack and posting online part of a Live Nation employment contract for Madonna‘s recent world tour as proo...
