Recently had a convo with a close family member about the nature of Predatory record deals, particularly within the black community.

His stance was within the past 4-5 years because of the Information Age and social media, anyone who signs a bad contract does so out of desperation and willful ignorance.

I disagreed. I stated that record labels take advantage of naive and miseducated people so that they can exploit their lack of knowledge when it comes to the contractual side of things. I brought up how Joe Budden as someone who is in the industry has spoken on how labels avoid mature artists with proper upbringings because they know they can’t be as easily manipulated. I also stated a lot of young artists are d***ged out and focused on partying. Very rarely is the business side of things in a young artists scope at the beginning of their career.

He disagreed on the basis that the shadiness of the music industry has been known amongst the black community for a long time and at this point it’s common knowledge. As a result anyone who is taken advantage by way of their contract had it coming due to their desparation. He thinks the type of young artists I was describing is an outlier and the majority of artists know they are getting in bed with the devil but look the other way because desparation and the desire to be famous.

Curious what other thinks.

Y’all both right

Never understood how someone like Uzi is mad that Drama want to make profit after taking him from a nobody to “Lil Uzi Vert” but it is definitely predatory system as a whole when it comes to deals staying in a f***ed up split long after the label recoups or shady accounting. You hear multiple stories about how separate unrelated niggas gotta go thru hoops to get paid from Birdman for example (not paying Neptunes, Gillie checks bouncing, etc lol) and it seem like certain s*** is just built into the industry

i think it’s a mix but also not stated enough how validating it feels as a creative to be approached by someone who sees value in your work, even if it’s superficial and predatory. i think youjg artists see record deals as a symbol of legitimacy more than they see it as a legally binding agreement that might inhibit them more than enable them.

well said

doing it ur way is harder than getting paid from a label, its not only poor black kids signing deals lol

Your idea of how record labels take advantage of artists ignorance using not easily understandable music industry legalese is right.

But like your friend said it has been known that the music industry can be shady and this belief has only became more popular through internet and social media. But these artists still sign those contracts out of desperation

People want a million and not pay their label back. Thats not how investments work

Predatory record deals dont exist we are not allowed to call out white record labels or execs we should beg for them and we should allow them to use our voice like AI to say whatever their agenda is

when you treat a human as investments only they might as well be slaves

Dawg

Theyre investing in the music

Their being white people we should lick their boots and worship them saying anything else is reprehensible

ehhhh nah because they want a perfect interview image lyrics and everything else

how can people who dont care about the human being truly invest in the art

This forum is filled with white people I am not allowed to worship white people and in no way question them on here ? @Tubig I thought thats what Y'all wanted .

The black people should be thankful they are getting paid millions they would never otherwise touch with their own talent and should attach to a worthy white owner at a record label to ruin their marketing. To control their voice. For them to make less than a penny per stream and be pitted against each other

and if they die dont worry the white person got life insurance on them and apple music going to promote them so their record label eats more than their family evere will

WHITE RECORD EXECUTIVE BILLIONAIRES LIVES MATTER

Predator 2 or prey are my favorite in the franchise tbh

This is where him I and had the fundamental disagreement. My point was even if it’s known at a high level about the shadiness of the industry, most people can’t tell you how and why.

The devil usually approaches you with a handshake and a smile. It’s in the benefit of these labels to present themselves as amicable as possible. Further more, they intentionally seek artists who would be more susceptible to manipulation because it’s part of their business plan.

I think business basics shows that knowing your clientele and interacting with them frequently is what leads to success. In this context the more ignorant an artist is the more of a benefit it is to the label.

That’s not to say the aren’t artist who knowingly go into these situations thinking they’re the exceptions. I’ll concede that the black community as a whole are more aware of the game, but speaking very specifically about the artists who actually sign contracts most of them are oblivious to what they’re signing.

A white person presents you a contract
your lawyer is often white
your manager is your bestie thats the same race as you they only know so much

white people hide something

then boom you signed

you got your sophmore or freshman album coming

they give you all these restrictions

NDA you cant tell the fans their goal

you got to smile a nice face

you flop

fans say you fell off

you beg for creative freedom

they tell you the person they want you to be

you bounce back maybe

you exhaust yourself on tour to make extra money

cycle repeats

you want to call it out

but the white publication, media, your now label hired white manager, your lawyer, your ceo all recommend against it or there will be consequences

Exactly. Even if an artist was smart enough to get a lawyer, chances are it’s a white lawyer who is going to tell them it’s the standard deal and that they should take it

For all the information we now, nothing can beat a shiny smile, money, and fine print filled with legal jargon that you won’t read off rip

and that lawyer can be besties with the label

the personal trainer besties with the label
the therapist besties with the label
chef
driver
stylist

all besties with the label

label has a billion dollars

so they like "hey secretly pay me a little something something we will keep him in check"

I hadn’t got to that part, but that part. If you had a multi billion dollar industry why wouldn’t you present a controlled solution to ensure the success of your empire?

And at the end of all that if you do it right even as a YG type nigga who dont got that many hits or classic albums, you have a level of fame that makes it so you never have to work again

Niggas gotta pick what they want lol. Everything since Snoop BIG and Pac that we love has been thru the major label system

ye was right about handlers but he went about the entire thing the wrong way which I have said the entire time. But a lot of what he said specifically about handlers, controlled opposition and now controlling streamers to get the message out to kids is factually correct

his crackpot theory about fake accusations and that s*** is bullshit.

level of fame nigga if I have kids and 5 people run up on them with cameras I will be in jail for at least a night

fame isnt all you think it is.