AIRWAVES LINK: Perilous times for record labels
Frankly, these are not the best of times for the few commercial record labels in the country.
The rate at which artistes are opting out of their contracts with these labels calls for concern.
While it’s supposed to be that artistes cannot survive without the backing of labels, they are actually doing so, hence the reason they quit labels after just a short association with them.
When an artiste is walking out on his label, the contact he signed is of no meaning to him, just as the contract will be of no relevance if the label can no longer meet its contractual obligations to its artists.
Artistes who have walked out on their labels in the midst of valid contracts include Kelly Hansome and Soul E. Hansome actually walked out on two labels, Myke Records, and then Kennis Music, and his contractual ties to them did not really affect his career.
Likewise Soul E. He dumped Colossal Entertainment. There was a court battle, but it did not really affect him.
Recently, maybe due to the advancement of the music sector, artists parting ways with their labels has been more amicable.
Eva Alordiah and Sheyman left Trybe Records with the mutual consent of eLDee, the label’s proprietor.
May D was released by PSquare’s Square Records and Kel by Clarence Peters’ Capital Hill.
Sadly, it seems the ungentlemanliness of Hansome and Soul E has returned again as Chuddy K and BrymO are reported to have quit their labels, SQN Music and Chocolate City respectively, without proper negotiations.
Chuddy K and BrymO follow in the footsteps of Wizkid who was recently involved in the thorniest artiste versus record label contract dispute of recent times.
Unlike Sheyman and Eva who cannot be said to be big time artistes, Wizkid is reportedly Banky W’s EME’s cash cow so they were not willing to let him go of course.
And after tussling back and forth on the issue for a few months, it was amicably resolved, but it isn’t definite that the storm won’t brew again.
But whether artistes quit their labels amicably or otherwise after the labels had invested in them massively or otherwise, the implication is simple: these are perilous times for labels as artistes now have the option of establishing their own independent labels.
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