There's a reason band leaders like Lars Ulrich have to be harsh SOBs. If they won't be an advocate, no one else will. Bands and solo artists often have their careers cut short by legal issues involving labels and managers who don't give a shit about the band, even platinum-selling artists. Even Taylor Swift could run victim of some jerk who wants to mess with her for no other reason than to be a dick.
Here's seven artists whose careers were dragged down by labels and management, in cases stretching for years. This isn't just about people who went broke, like Tony Braxton and TLC, it's about artists who were just trying to make music and some jerk decided to mess with them.
Naturally this list skews to my own musical biases. Feel free to include your own or make your own Original.
Andrew W.K.Andrew W.K. exploded onto the scene in late 2001 with the album "I Get Wet," known for its cover with blood running down his face and a hyper-metal sound that went counter to the nu-metal sound of the time. After his second album, "The Wolf," Andrew disappeared for almost five years.
WK had used a pseudonym of "Steev Mike," sort of like the way Stephen King used the Richard Bachman name for a few years in his early days. A disgruntled former friend hacked WK's site and claimed he was Steev Mike and that Andrew WK was a corporate construct and that there were multiple Andrew WKs running around.
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Bottom line was Andrew Wilkes-Krier could not release music in the U.S. under his own name for almost five years. "Close Calls With Brick Walls" was a 17-song album released in Korea in 2006. "55 Cadillac" was a collection of piano music completely separate from his usual music. Finally, in 2010, Andrew
settled the issue.
ToolTool are notorious slowpokes when it comes to albums, but fans started getting really impatient when eight years had passed since "10,000 Days" was released. Finally, guitarist Adam Jones
spoke to Rolling Stone about the problems.
Back in 2007, an associate of the Jones claimed that Tool had used his artwork without giving due credit. It got worse when an insurance company Tool hired for the band’s defense also ended up filing a suit against the band for "technicalities regarding the case." Seven years later, the case is still going on and won't go to trial until January. The band then filed a countersuit to defend themselves against the insurer's claims.
Fortunately, photos emerged recently of all four members in the studio, making the Tool faithful very happy.
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JoJoBefore there was Ariana Grande, JoJo was the white girl trying to be black, and doing a decent job. After her second album in 2006, things went south with her label Blackground and imprint Da Family Records, both a part of Universal Music Group. She delivered a completed third album, but Blackground and Da Family failed to release her third album despite delivery and acceptance of recordings, and that the labels didn't pay producers and other vendors she collaborated with.
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She released a single in 2011, called "Disaster," which the labels failed to promote, and made a video for the song "Demonstrate," which was never released. The odd part is why the labels refused to lift a finger for a girl who had sold 5 million copies of her first two records or just let her go.
Finally, she sued the label in 2011, arguing that her deal with the labels was signed when she was a minor, and laws in both New York and California say minors cannot be bound to a legal contract longer than seven years. Since she signed the deal in 2004, things should have been up in 2011. It took another 2 years but she
signed a deal with Atlantic in December 2013.
PoeThe '90s spawned a ton of annoying female singer/songwriters and a few tolerable ones. Poe was one of them. She played an eclectic mix of music and had a nutty personality. Her fanbase called themselves "Angry Psychos," a reference to her hit "Angry Johnny."
Poe was signed to Modern Records, a boutique label of Atlantic Records, a Time-Warner company. In 2001, Time-Warner merged with AOL, and just weeks after re-signing Poe, it dropped her. It came out that in spite of the fact that Atlantic was responsible for providing all funding, marketing, publicity, radio promotion, tour support and distribution for the Poe project, Modern had ownership of the masters of all Poe recordings.
So Atlantic was spending all the money but it had no stake in Poe's past, present or future catalogue. At that point it wasn't interested. Poe's work would be sold and passed around to three more labels in that decade. Modern would sell its interest in Poe as an artist and in Poe’s future recordings to wealthy oil executive and author Robert M. Edsel who bought her contract and kept Poe tied up in court, unable to release new music or perform professionally for nearly a decade. She made ends meet by performing for charitable events working on film soundtracks and licensing her sons for films and commercials.
She finally
got out of the deal in 2010 thanks to the California Labor Commission. But for 10 years, Poe could not release music under her name because of some oil man who bought her contract and essentially froze her career.
TestamentIn 1999, Testament released what I think is the best thrash metal album ever, "The Gathering." Not even "Reign in Blood" can match it for sheer power and intensity, although both albums do feature Dave Lombardo on drums. The album had everything: man-mountain vocalist Chuck Billy roaring on all cylinders, an excellent guitar duo in James Murphy and Eric Peterson, and one of the very few fretless bassists in metal, Steve DiGiorgio.
The album earned mad raves from the metal press, but you couldn't find it. The CD distributor went bankrupt with debts of $44 million. The result was a highly acclaimed album in high demand that no one could buy because boxes of it were locked in warehouses. Eric Peterson complained that the band was on its biggest tour ever and there were
no records in the stores.
This album was seriously cursed. Murphy would be diagnosed with multiple brain tumors right when the album was released. He was replaced with shredder Steve Smyth. After the tour, Billy would be diagnosed with cancer in his heart. Fortunately both men beat cancer.
Tom PettyIn 1979, Tom Petty had to file bankruptcy because he was flat broke despite two hit albums, 1976's "Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers" (featuring the hit singles "Breakdown" and "American Girl") and 1978's "You're Gonna Get It!" Unhappy with his record deal, Petty refused to allow his next album to be released, even going so far as to bear the cost of recording it personally, leaving him some $500,000 in debt.
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During this time, MCA was in the process of acquiring his label and Petty tried to use the transfer as an out. In the end, MCA blinked,
releasing Petty from his existing contract but immediately re-signing him to a $3 million contract with a brand-new subsidiary label created specifically for him. That album, "Damn The Torpedoes", featured the hits "Refugee" and "Don't Do Me Like That", and would certified double platinum.
Incredibly, he sued the label again in 1981 when MCA planned to sell his new record for $9.98, a dollar more than the typical retail price at the time. Said Tom Petty at the time, "If we don't take a stand, one of these days records are going to be $20." Again, MCA blinked, selling the album at retail for the then-customary $8.98. And Tom proved prescient. Tower Records frequently DID sell CDs for $18-$19 dollars.
Bruce SpringsteenSpringsteen's first manager and producer, Mike Appel, played an important role in Bruce's early career. A musician with a background in music production and music business, he helped Bruce in the early days by getting him signed to Columbia Records and produced his first two albums. He was vital in getting Bruce's first big hit, "Born to Run," on key FM radio in many east coast markets.
However, Appel and Springsteen were very different men from opposite sides of the country and Appel was an abrasive character. Bruce would become close with music critic
Jon Landau, who wrote the famous "I saw rock and roll future and its name is Bruce Springsteen" review. Landau would eventually take over Springsteen's management.
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In mid-1976, Springsteen sued Appel because he would not permit Bruce to release his new album, and Appel countersued. Because of the suits, Springsteen was
prevented from recording for nearly a year. In mid-1977, though, an out-of-court settlement ended the dispute. Appel got nearly one million dollars and retained some royalties and publishing from Springsteen's first albums.
But Appel blew it. He sold back his publishing and royalty rights to Springsteen in 1983 and 1984, right before Bruce would release "Born in the USA," a monster hit album that kicked up sales of Bruce's back catalog. He never really made an impact in music again.
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