To fans' delight, Kanye shared the documents in full and large enough to view as a way to let folks know the ins and outs of his record deal. Ross Guberman [00:01:18] If it works, right? This is the same deal your favorite artist signed, this is their label. What do you expect a young, naive artist to do? Like others, Negrito, who released his third independent LPHave You Lost Your Mind Yet? Uploaded by Mike Whelan [00:08:46] Well, and on that one more example of an experiment before we get to Kanyes and trying to create this answer, his call for plain language, this GE image, they seem to be experimenting a bit again with changing the language. NO MORE. The 100 Best Albums of 2022. Kanye West, also now known as Ye, has been named as a suspect in a battery report taken by the Los Angeles police department in the early hours of . Right. We need plain English contracts. However, only 50 percent of video costscan berecouped from audio-only record royalties. Were going to pay that to you. The label additionally had the right to release one Greatest Hits album. Learn more about his work for attorneys at www.lawyerforward.com. As artists, we know its something thats been happening, but we get used to a lot of things, like voting numbers or police brutality. The first thing that changes about Record Deals is actually lawyers. And so Kanye is at this point where hes like, dude, I got to have some other ways to make money. If you have a kid who knows nothing about law and sees all this money, these contracts are 60 pages long, who the fuck is reading that? Anokute says. While Anokute points the barrel primarily at the labels dishing out deals arguing that these deals perpetuate the very inequalities for black artists that the labels have said theyre looking to change he acknowledges that labels alone cant take all the blame for unfriendly artist deals. West is also no longer with record label Def Jam a Universal Music Group subsidiaryas he has fulfilled his contract, Forbes reported Thursday, and his own label, G.O.O.D. web pages (Rex Features) Kanye West tweeted dozens of pages from his recording contract with Universal Music Group yesterday (Wednesday 16 September . One way to begin is by bracketing off phrases or words that you know have a substantive value. "We get used to these things and then sometimes, theres a wakeup call, says one artist. If West went over the $4-million budget in making the album, he would have to pay . In fact, according to one of his recent Instagram posts, the Three Stripes offered to buy Ye out of his contract for $1 billion. Well see you there. Kanye West Says He Won't Release New Music Until Freed From Sony and Universal Contracts: Declaring himself "the new Moses" while demanding apologies from Drake and J. Cole. That was pretty awesome. Ye (/ j e / YAY; born Kanye Omari West / k n j e / KAHN-yay; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer.. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the early 2000s, producing singles for several artists and developing the "chipmunk soul" sampling style. If you are interested in being a guest on Contract Teardown, please email us at community@lawinsider.com. Tell me how this is more understandable again for someone, not a 12 year old, but someone like Kanye in the decision making phase. We get used to these things and then sometimes, theres a wakeup call . And thats why the color coding comes in. Ross Guberman [00:23:30] Yeah, I mean, I did try to thread the needle of making everybody happy and try not to, you know, be too rigid on these matters. They are long. So we want to talk briefly about this profit sharing piece, this image here, because theres a lot of language that might lead to artists not understanding that theyre getting into that pretty crappy deal, honestly. Send us a tip using our anonymous form. We were lucky because we were careful. Now, with a click of a finger, your music goes wide to 7 billion people if you want it to. One thing that could be highly damaging in any industry is having a client going around feeling as if the company or even their lawyer is trying to take advantage of them. Ross, how are you today? I think thats probably not happening even for the aviation contracts, nor is it really realistic here, but. In this episode of the Contract Teardown show, guest Diana Isyanova shares three possible approaches. As usual, West's behavior has spurred an onslaught of speculation regarding a possible return to a business relationship with Nike. Mike Whelan [00:04:08] wearing the shirt. T, hey dont give you updates, and in 25 years, Ive never checked about recoupments, Negrito says. Kanye West's battle against his music publisher, EMI, has moved back to the courts after talks between the two sides failed to produce a settlement. What is your story, Ross Guberman? Ye went from $6.6 billion to maybe $400 million. Over the course of dozens of tweets, West. Its sort of a it, Ross Guberman [00:17:40] hasnt been taken. This is a situation were in. In the weeks following its release, Donda surpassed a billion streams on Spotify globally. Mike Whelan [00:07:53] Well, and heres another one from LinkedIn, this sort of two column set up in the license image. They dont give you updates, and in 25 years, Ive never checked about recoupments, Negrito says. The language looks like something you might find, you know, 50, 100 years ago. One common grievance: Many aspects of record deals do not reflect how the business has dramatically changed over the past decade. Theyre paying for all of the promotion of music videos and concerts because its coming out off the top. Advances. I didnt know this was the thing, but apparently its a Twitter meme. Mike Whelan [00:17:34] Yeah, I like the phrase sufficient moneys. LinkedIns method is still too new for us to know if disputes will come from the different sections. In order to maintain the original intent, some legal jargon and industry terms must remain intact. Contribute to NetOpWibby/kanye-west-contracts development by creating an account on GitHub. The outspoken music artist - who considered running. So its cut down on negotiation time and led to better, you know, better deals. $20.99 Used. And the reason that it applies to us is this awesome tweet that all the lawyers got excited about, where he says the first thing that changes about record deals is actually lawyers. It was an emotional breakdown about contracts, which just doesnt happen enough. Thank you, Ross. You got a bunch on the left in a very short sentence on the right. Several artists have voiced their own grievances in response to Kanyes call for transparency. I need every lawyer in the world to look at these," he wrote. Labels are taking risks on any given signing and need to make offers that keep the company profitable. Other brands and companies that cut ties to West . Was the pissing on the Grammy to much? Late last year, Kanye West took to Twitter to vent his frustration about complicated contract language. The papers indicate that he started on a royalty deal frequently afforded to upcoming artists, which later evolved into a more artist-friendly pressing and distribution deal that gave Kanye more of the profits and bigger budgets as he became a superstar. Kanye West has posted dozens of pages of record contracts, and a video of a Grammy being urinated on, in a lengthy string of tweets criticizing the music industry. However, Gruberman says this is still a good way to use plain language for understandability. For Kanye, his 15% royalty rate on wholesale for each sneaker sold has netted him roughly $150 million pre-tax annually. 88-Keys . Ross and I dig into Kanyes request for plain language drafting and whether its even realistic. Its a fine line to walk: simplifying without completely changing the meaning of the terms. So if Im a lawyer and Im negotiating with another side and youre very practical about these things, like although the plain language movement is nice, in theory, youve got to negotiate with somebody else who might like that archaic language. Theres this site, my my other company, legal writing pro. It's unclear if it actually will. Maybe even my own lawyer is not really looking at the language from my point of view. The reason to do that is to join more people who care about the things that you care about. Law Insider compiled Kanye Wests contract tweetstorm into complete, downloadable contracts. A Lawyers role is to IMPROVE deals. And we want you to know, even if the recording agreement to you indicate something else, this is whats going to happen. this summer, doesnt point the finger at any one entity or group for the nature of these deals. Ye asked for $12 million, and $8 million would be paid promptly after the full execution of the 2012 amendment. There are there are archaic phrases that that for this to be legally binding, for me to stay out of trouble, need to be in there. Its an interesting thing. No, but nobody wants clients to to conclude that. Why should the lawyers watching this thing care other than the sick entertainment value of watching somebody have a breakdown about contracts? So from a record label standpoint at the moment, the split Kanye has above is in many cases flipped. The way that Gruberman has identified these sections is by using his tool called BriefCatch. Ross Guberman [00:15:01] Yeah, Kanye could read this. Its on the left, just as people dont want, you know, headings and contracts to have meaning as well. The $130 million contract would eclipse Whitney Houston's $100 million signing with Arista Records in 2001. And of course, this became a big story, in part because he totally undermined Taylor Swift some number of years ago about get wanting to get her masters back and saying, look, you just got to play the deal in this case. Search the history of over 797 billion There was about 100 pages of documents that he probably should not have posted on Twitter, but he did anyway. If theyre doing this to me with all Ive accomplished through hard work, I can only imagine the kids who dont have big placements/proper guidance, Hit-Boy wrote on Instagram. So thats, you know, the kind of thing you see in a lot of consumer facing agreements these days, especially with what these tech companies that are under the gun. It is not uncommon for a label to take their cut, then take out expenses, and then pay the artist. Royalty portals need to show (and do not now) Every song you delivered, Every store you are in, How many streams per song Income per song. After a slight struggle trying to share the files, Kanye boasted that him revealing his old record label contracts was going to be a literal game changer. Musician Kanye West changed all that when he went to Twitter to complain about his many contracts with the recording industry. I guess my question is, could Kanye read this, do you think? Rap superstar Kanye West is leading a revolt against . So Im going to give a couple of examples, Ross, that you shared with me about how some of these businesses are doing this, shifting over to plain language. Why is a shift to plain language important? So so talk to me about this profit sharing piece. So I want you to do it, take advantage of it. Ross Guberman [00:22:31] but definitely something to that. Ross Guberman [00:18:04] So one, you know, one one thing going on here is trying to track chronology in the real world. Until then, Ross, I appreciate you being here. Kanye West, someone God had chosen to do something very special in the world. The artist owns the copyright in the recordings and songs and leases them to the record label/publisher for a limited term. Why are artists paying a 20 percent distribution fee off the top?, Related The defined terms, look, the defined terms are this is conventional, we dont want to completely revolutionize everything theyre necessary because of this intersecting set of agreements. The rapper has put out nine albums over 17 years through Roc-a-Fella Records. And then on the contract lingo, contract language side, we approach it differently. Almost ALL new deals now are based on ALL songs going to a store or app. And the whole thing does feel very, very dated and and remote. Lets rewrite the deals to be understandable from first rate. But as the music industry comes out of its 20-year tailspin, with streaming fueling new growth, artists arent satisfied with that arrangement, and many are demanding newfound power. See's Kanye West's Record Contract Tweets, revealing the intricate details of his record label contract. Theres hidden costs in the ways deals are structured, and most artists dont have an understanding in how the recoupment works and its confusing. Right. on the Internet. Most comprehensive library of legal defined terms on your mobile device. Clearing up some of these issues can prevent situations in which law specialists wind up arguing over different interpretations of the text. Kanye West has been active on Twitter once again. Lets get back to the show. Whats the language that stands out to you as particularly harmful to the understanding of the parties, which is really what a contract is supposed to do, right? So lets take another example from the Kanye contract. You take expenses out and then people are sharing whats left. The remaining$1millionwas to be paid upon completion. Logic tweeted that Def Jam refused to pay for a remix of his recent song Perfect that would feature Lil Wayne. The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time Music record label. They will help you draft better contracts faster. Wests contract could even be considered favorable among superstar contracts, with Universal heavily investing in Wests works, entertainment attorney Christiane Kinney says. Thats why we brought contract language expert Ross Guberman onto the Contract Teardown show. Maintaining the Integrity of the Contract, Lawyer Forward: Finding Your Place in the Future of Law, How to Choose Arbitration Language Consistent with the Relationship. We have been engaged in an ongoing dialogue with Hit-Boy and all the concerned parties to address his concerns and will continue to do so until a reasonable solution is achieved.). Be the first one to, Advanced embedding details, examples, and help, 2005.04.13-Recording Agreement between Roc-A-Fella Records and Rock the World, LLC_abbyy.gz, 2011.01.11-Kanye WestJay Z Duet Album Agreement_abbyy.gz, 2012.05.04-Amendment recording agreement_abbyy.gz, 2012.05.07-Amendment, including original recording agreement_abbyy.gz, 2012.05.07-Profit Share Agreement_abbyy.gz, 2012.05.17-Amendment to Recording Agreement and Film Agreement_abbyy.gz, 2013.03.10-Amendment recording agreement_abbyy.gz, 2014.08.11-Amendment recording agreement_abbyy.gz, 2019.01.09--Summary of Kanye West's Label Agreements_abbyy.gz, 2005.04.13-Recording Agreement between Roc-A-Fella Records and Rock the World, LLC_daisy.zip, 2011.01.11-Kanye WestJay Z Duet Album Agreement_daisy.zip, 2012.05.04-Amendment recording agreement_daisy.zip, 2012.05.07-Amendment, including original recording agreement_daisy.zip, 2012.05.07-Profit Share Agreement_daisy.zip, 2012.05.17-Amendment to Recording Agreement and Film Agreement_daisy.zip, 2013.03.10-Amendment recording agreement_daisy.zip, 2014.08.11-Amendment recording agreement_daisy.zip, 2019.01.09--Summary of Kanye West's Label Agreements_daisy.zip, 2005.04.13-Recording Agreement between Roc-A-Fella Records and Rock the World, LLC.epub, 2011.01.11-Kanye WestJay Z Duet Album Agreement.epub, 2012.05.04-Amendment recording agreement.epub, 2012.05.07-Amendment, including original recording agreement.epub, 2012.05.17-Amendment to Recording Agreement and Film Agreement.epub, 2013.03.10-Amendment recording agreement.epub, 2014.08.11-Amendment recording agreement.epub, 2019.01.09--Summary of Kanye West's Label Agreements.epub, 2005.04.13-Recording Agreement between Roc-A-Fella Records and Rock the World, LLC_djvu.txt, 2011.01.11-Kanye WestJay Z Duet Album Agreement_djvu.txt, 2012.05.04-Amendment recording agreement_djvu.txt, 2012.05.07-Amendment, including original recording agreement_djvu.txt, 2012.05.07-Profit Share Agreement_djvu.txt, 2012.05.17-Amendment to Recording Agreement and Film Agreement_djvu.txt, 2013.03.10-Amendment recording agreement_djvu.txt, 2014.08.11-Amendment recording agreement_djvu.txt, 2019.01.09--Summary of Kanye West's Label Agreements_djvu.txt, 2005.04.13-Recording Agreement between Roc-A-Fella Records and Rock the World, LLC.mobi, 2011.01.11-Kanye WestJay Z Duet Album Agreement.mobi, 2012.05.04-Amendment recording agreement.mobi, 2012.05.07-Amendment, including original recording agreement.mobi, 2012.05.17-Amendment to Recording Agreement and Film Agreement.mobi, 2013.03.10-Amendment recording agreement.mobi, 2014.08.11-Amendment recording agreement.mobi, 2019.01.09--Summary of Kanye West's Label Agreements.mobi, 2005.04.13-Recording Agreement between Roc-A-Fella Records and Rock the World, LLC_page_numbers.json, 2011.01.11-Kanye WestJay Z Duet Album Agreement_page_numbers.json, 2012.05.04-Amendment recording agreement_page_numbers.json, 2012.05.04-Letter of Direction_page_numbers.json, 2012.05.07-Amendment, including original recording agreement_page_numbers.json, 2012.05.07-Profit Share Agreement_page_numbers.json, 2012.05.17-Amendment to Recording Agreement and Film Agreement_page_numbers.json, 2013.03.10-Amendment recording agreement_page_numbers.json, 2014.08.11-Amendment recording agreement_page_numbers.json, 2019.01.09--Summary of Kanye West's Label Agreements_page_numbers.json, 2005.04.13-Recording Agreement between Roc-A-Fella Records and Rock the World, LLC.pdf, 2011.01.11-Kanye WestJay Z Duet Album Agreement.pdf, 2012.05.04-Amendment recording agreement.pdf, 2012.05.07-Amendment, including original recording agreement.pdf, 2012.05.17-Amendment to Recording Agreement and Film Agreement.pdf, 2013.03.10-Amendment recording agreement.pdf, 2014.08.11-Amendment recording agreement.pdf, 2019.01.09--Summary of Kanye West's Label Agreements.pdf, 2005.04.13-Recording Agreement between Roc-A-Fella Records and Rock the World, LLC_text.pdf, 2011.01.11-Kanye WestJay Z Duet Album Agreement_text.pdf, 2012.05.04-Amendment recording agreement_text.pdf, 2012.05.07-Amendment, including original recording agreement_text.pdf, 2012.05.07-Profit Share Agreement_text.pdf, 2012.05.17-Amendment to Recording Agreement and Film Agreement_text.pdf, 2013.03.10-Amendment recording agreement_text.pdf, 2014.08.11-Amendment recording agreement_text.pdf, 2019.01.09--Summary of Kanye West's Label Agreements_text.pdf, 2005.04.13-Recording Agreement between Roc-A-Fella Records and Rock the World, LLC_jp2.zip, 2011.01.11-Kanye WestJay Z Duet Album Agreement_jp2.zip, 2012.05.04-Amendment recording agreement_jp2.zip, 2012.05.07-Amendment, including original recording agreement_jp2.zip, 2012.05.07-Profit Share Agreement_jp2.zip, 2012.05.17-Amendment to Recording Agreement and Film Agreement_jp2.zip, 2013.03.10-Amendment recording agreement_jp2.zip, 2014.08.11-Amendment recording agreement_jp2.zip, 2019.01.09--Summary of Kanye West's Label Agreements_jp2.zip, Terms of Service (last updated 12/31/2014). Theyre not to be I mean, this is classic, completely unnecessary, archaic language you see in a lot of commercial agreements. Is classic, completely unnecessary, archaic language you see in a very short on... The record label/publisher for a limited term maybe even my own lawyer is not looking. T, hey dont give you updates, and $ 8 million would be paid upon completion music label. Must remain intact others, Negrito, who released his third independent LPHave you your. Sharing piece even if the recording industry would feature Lil Wayne which just doesnt happen.... Mind Yet way to use plain language drafting and whether its even realistic that you,! On Spotify globally 's Kanye West has been active on Twitter once again one kanye west record contract pdf grievance: many of... Of these issues can prevent situations in which law specialists wind up arguing over different interpretations of the 2012...., West see 's Kanye West, someone God had chosen to do need! 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The remaining $ 1millionwas to be understandable from first rate as well good! I dig into Kanyes request for plain language for understandability other than the sick entertainment value watching.

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