Because Only The Record Labels Are Supposed To Get Away With Not Paying Their Musicians...

from the bad-timing dept

So lots of people have been submitting versions of the story about how Pink Floyd is suing EMI, claiming that EMI isn't paying the band what it owes for iTunes downloads. I'd avoided posting this, because it's basically the same contractual dispute we've seen from other acts, where they claim that their labels are accounting for iTunes downloads improperly in order to avoid paying the bands. This story is as old as the recording industry itself. The labels have always worked hard to avoid actually paying bands anything.

But what made it worth mentioning is that the lawsuit has come out at just about the same time that the record labels are now hilariously trying to claim that radio stations are "pigs" who refuse to pay musicians. In one of the more juvenile pranks out there, a lobbying group supported by the labels is going around with a giant inflatable pig, mocking radio stations for "refusing to pay musicians for their work ."

You would think that the record labels would be smart enough to avoid making an argument that could so easily be turned against them. How about before you go blame the radio stations for not paying the labels to promote your acts, you start out by paying money to some of your top selling acts who claim they've never seen a dime in royalties. Given the labels' propensity to blatantly lie to artists about how much they're owed, you'd think the last thing they'd want to do is call attention to who is "refusing to pay musicians for their work."

Filed Under: radio stations, royalties