Universal Music Group is the next label to announce a program for certain legacy artists to receive royalties without having recoupded their advance payments, per Billboard. The company revealed the plan on March 31 in their environmental, social, and governance report. UMG joins Sony Music and Warner in this new program which will kick off sometime this year.
Beggars Group orginailly started this mission in 2020, aiming to correct bad label deals, especially for Black artist who were locked into exploitative contracts with low royalty rates. The independent label cleared all unrecouped debt on artists advances 15 years after an artist’s last contractual album. Back in 2001, UMG did the same on a smaller scale through its Motwon/UMG Fund, which gave health and welfare grants to artists and their spouses per Pitchfork.
Sony Music initially announced they would begin payouts to legacy artists and producers back in 2021. The only catch was indiviausl had to be signed to the company prior to 2000 and have yet to recoup their record advnaces. The new policy deemed “Legacy Unrecouped Balance Program” was a part of their new initiative called “Artists Forward” which aimed to improve the communication with artists.
Warner Music Group also recently announced their role in the new initiative back in February. Their program will launch July 1 and will also only cover artists who were signed to the company before 2000. Producers, engineers, mixers, and remixers will also qualify for WMG’s legacy program.
The new program is arguably one of the best moves considering many artists have not been rightfully paid for their contributions even as their music continues to reach the masses.
[Via]