RIAA Short Funds Artist's Royalties
 

Apologies if this has been done, didn't see it in search.




Linko







Labels sued for irregularities in artists retirement accounts.

Not a day goes by, where we don't hear the RIAA give their song and dance about how avoiding the purchase of copyrighted products, basically takes the food out of artists mouths due to lack of royalty payments. Now, we can read that even when we do succumb to a retail purchase, the labels murky accounting practices appear to be denying these artists of their due anyway.

In this particular case, it seems that Sam Moore, a 30 year veteran of show business has had his pension short funded for 27 years by Atlantic Records. In fact, the Moore's claim that from 1965 to 1992 not one penny of royalties went toward their account.

According to Mr. Moore's manager and wife, Joyce Moore, 60's hits such as Soul Man and Hold on! I'm Comin', sold millions of copies for this talented R&B performer and Atlantic Records. By her calculations, the Moore's are due a retirement check, per month of nearly $ 8,000 dollars. Unfortunately, according to this story at USA Today, the couple were informed that he would be receiving a monthly check of $ 63.67 instead. This must not be an isolated incident, because other R&B vets are filing similar lawsuits against Sony, Universal, BMG, Warner and EMI for failing to accurately report royalties or make required contributions to the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists' Health and Retirement Funds.


The issue comes down to one word: transparency," says Fred Wilhelms, a Nashville-based lawyer who represents artists on royalty and benefit matters. "The royalty accounting system is cloaked in obscurity. The labels pay royalties based on sales but are the only ones with actual sales data. What gets reported is up to them, and there's no way to easily verify the numbers."

Royalties vary according to label custom, the clout of each artist and negotiating skills of lawyers involved. Among murky issues:

• Rates on CDs are usually 85% of cassette/vinyl rates, an outdated practice set when CDs were expensive to produce.

• Sizable deductions from royalties are taken for recording, video and tour costs.

• Reductions for vaguely defined costs of radio promotion can reach $ 500,000 per track.

Artists receive quarterly statements with computations Da Vinci would have trouble decoding.

"There's an indifference to getting things right, and 95% of the errors I see in royalty statements break in favor of the label," Wilhelms says. "That confounds the laws of probability."


Apparently, Atlantic felt they had carte blanche with Mr. Moores earnings and figured he would keep his mouth shut. The record industry has already done considerable damage to themselves in the eyes the buying public with price fixing and harsh lawsuits. Now, they are about to turn their own talent against them with these alleged shady accounting practices.




But...but...I thought us consumers and file-sharers were the cause of starving artists and loss of artist jobs and revenue. Die RIAA, die a horrible slow painful death.

Re: RIAA Short Funds Artist's Royalties
 

It's in progress. We just need to see to it that it goes to completion.

Is Bush gonna get the blame for this one too?

...I could go off on RIAA right about now. They had scared me away from downloading music anymore than rarely, then I go buy their CDs (not alot, but I'll buy CDs by artists I respect) because I'm a music fan. They didn't lower the costs of their CDs like they promised they would in October, which also upset me. Now, the artists I respected are gettin' slapped in the face.

You know what? Fuck that; I boycot.

RIAA you are just about to get OWNED.

This is a time where pities are expected to be given out to those "artist" because IRAA rip them off...well NOT ME!!! I'm glad this happend to them. Fuck those "artists" and fuck IRAA, may both side now kill each other in peace!!! :) :D :thumbsup:

Re: RIAA Short Funds Artist's Royalties
 

Well I have never heard of Mr. Wilhelms personally in my 20 years in the music business, but at the very least he should be aware that it is publishing companies, not record companies that generally pay royalties to artists, since the whole scheme of mechanical, syncronized royalties etc,, is easier to handle under one roof.

Perhaps Atlantic has ripped off Mr. Moore but I don't see why they would. As a top label with some of the world's top talent, it isn't in their best interests. Perhaps Mr Wilhelms should go back and look at the original contract Mr. Moore signed, or any deviations thereof. If he isn't getting what he thinks he deserves, that would probably be a good starting point.