In 1971 when I brought my first major recording contract home to my attorney father, in my book “Sex, No Drugs & Rock’N’Roll: Memoirs Of A Music Junkie,” I recounted, “As my father read the recording contract, he just kept shaking his head. To him it bordered on legalized slavery. We needed a consulting opinion.” So, we visited a major entertainment lawyer at the time who, “made the distinction between legal and practical in the high-stakes music business, with one-sided contracts that reflected the risk. On the other hand, once successful, everything was renegotiable.”
In that contract, I was to receive an advance against future royalties. Of course, I would never see any of those royalties as the label book kept them against everything, from record returns to the toilet paper in the A&R bathroom. And that was just a recording contract.
360 Deals
With the advent of the internet and free downloads, and record company margins shrinking, things got a lot worse for artists. At least in my day, even with no record royalties, artists could still make a living with their merchandising, touring and music publishing. Then record companies and producers decided they wanted a piece of all that too. Hence, the advent of the “360 Deal.” Unlike the previous record contracts, these create a supposed ‘partnership’ with the artist, sharing in everything, even if the record company or producer does nothing to warrant this additional power, control, and money grab.
For a terrific, in depth explanation of the ‘360 Deal,’ you might want to visit a 2009 article by attorneys Bernie Resnick and Dina LaPolt at http://bernardresnick.com/pdfs/360DealsUSA_2.pdf
Although I can’t confirm it, I’m guessing Kesha’s contract with Dr. Luke is some incarnation of that “360” formula, in which he controls every aspect of her life. Dr. Luke then has an exclusive distribution deal for his Kimosabe Records with Sony Music Entertainment. Following the tremendous success of “Animal,” she was most probably able to renegotiate the terms of her deal, but absolutely couldn’t break it. Accordingly, she must still produce six more albums before freedom from her slave masters.
Kesha’s Allegations
This alone might have contributed to her well documented drug use, and psychological problems, but now there are her allegations of sexual abuse and rape as a teenager by Dr. Luke. If these can be proven, she’ll be freed. If not…
