Published 19:31 IST, September 18th 2020
Kanye West already owns some of his Masters, contract pages in tweet reveal details
Kanye West went on a Twitter rant regarding his need to own his Masters. But reportedly, according to his contract the rapper already owns some of his Masters.
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Kanye West in a long Twitter rant on Spetember 17, 2020, expressed his desire to own his Masters and other music rights. But now Variety's report suggests that Kanye already owns some of the Masters he is publicly demanding from Universal and Sony. This information has been gained from the contract pictures the rapper shared with fans in his tweets.
Kanye already owns some of his Masters from UMG
Kanye West is the latest artist to demand owning his Masters and rights to publish his music. So to get his point across to Universal Music Group and Sony/ATV Music, Kanye posted multiple tweets about this issue. In a series of tweets, West also posted pictures of some of these contracts.
Everyone please cover me in prayer ... I AM ONE OF THE MOST FAMOUS PEOPLE ON THE PLANET AND UNIVERSAL WONT TELL ME WHAT MY MASTERS COST BECAUSE THEY KNOW I CAN AFFORD THEM ... BLACK MASTERS MATTER
— ye (@kanyewest) September 16, 2020
EVERYONE AT UNIVERSAL AND VIVENDI PLEASE UNDERSTAND THAT I WILL DO EVERYTHING IN MY LEGAL POWER AND USE MY VOICE UNTIL ALL ARTIST CONTRACTS ARE CHANGED STARTING WITH GETTING MY MASTERS FOR MY CHILDREN I WILL NOT STOP I PROMISE YOU IM AM PETTY AND VERY PERSONAL
— ye (@kanyewest) September 16, 2020
But now, according to Variety’s report, Kanye west already owns some of his Masters. A source also confirmed the same to the media portal. While Kanye was trying to bring about a change in the working of the music industry, his move is receiving backlash. Since many of Kanye’s mentioned contracts are more profitable for him than the label who produced his music.
— ye (@kanyewest) September 16, 2020
This backlash also comes from the fact that many musicians are not as lucky as him to enjoy the privileges he receives through his contracts. The documents posted by Kanye West on his Twitter has invited more scrutiny towards his own G.O.O.D. Music label. Kanye’s label was founded in 2004 and since then is being distributed by Universal Music Group.
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Kanye’s music label has several artists under its belt. Many of these artists are under the same contract that Kanye West opposed in his Twitter rant. According to the media portal’s report, Kanye West has signed ten contracts with UMG. Each contract supposedly has gotten better for him and puts him in an advantageous position.
In one of the documents shared in his tweets, a contract from 2014 suggests that Kanye West entered into a pressing and distribution deal with Universal. While Universal manufactures and distributes the records the masters are owned by another company. In this case, the report suggests that the Masters are owned by Kanye’s music label.
19:31 IST, September 18th 2020