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Cher, Bono heirs sue Universal Music over royalties
Hollywood Reporter via Reuters ^ | Tue Jun 2, 2009 11:23pm EDT | Matthew Belloni

Posted on 06/03/2009 11:39:13 AM PDT by a fool in paradise

Cher has sued Universal Music Group, claiming that the label's creative accounting has shortchanged her and the heirs of her late ex-husband, Sonny Bono, to the tune of $5 million.

The lawsuit, filed Tuesday in Los Angeles Superior Court, claims an audit of UMG's accounting to the singer-actress from 2000 to 2003 showed that UMG executives "engaged in wrongful tactics" designed to hide revenue from two hit compilation albums.

The five-count, 22-page complaint claims breach of two recording contracts Cher had with UMG predecessors, one with MCA division Kapp Records in 1972 and a 1987 deal with the David Geffen Company. Cher claims that those deals entitled her -- and, in the case of the 1972 deal, Bono -- to receive up to 50 percent of net royalties received by UMG...

"Instead of reporting to and paying plaintiffs their share of the revenues generated by Warner U.K., UMG Recordings, in an egregious example of self-dealing, apparently inserted Universal International as a middleman in the transaction ... for the sole purpose of diverting money that rightfully belonged to plaintiffs to Universal International," the complaint says...

(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


TOPICS: Music/Entertainment
KEYWORDS: cultureofcorruption; musicindustry; piracy; sonnybono

1 posted on 06/03/2009 11:39:13 AM PDT by a fool in paradise
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To: 537cant be wrong; Aeronaut; bassmaner; Bella_Bru; Big Guy and Rusty 99; Brian Allen; cgk; ...

Music industry culture of corruption PING thing.

As Frank Zappa said, no one who ever went into a record company with an auditor ever walked out empty handed.

And yet the industry swears that musicians are hurting because of digital downloads, not creative accounting.

Your label is not your friend. ASCAP and BMI are not your friends. They collect money on your behalf. Paying it TO YOU is another matter entirely. They like to see their bottom line increase too.


2 posted on 06/03/2009 11:41:15 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Justice is blind. Sonia Sotomayor is not even qualified to sit on an IMPARTIAL jury.)
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To: a fool in paradise

Frank Zappa and Robert Fripp are two artists I recognize as having created their own labels (Barking Pumpkin and Discipline, respectively) to publish and distribute their own work (I think that’s right). Who else has done that?


3 posted on 06/03/2009 11:46:05 AM PDT by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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To: BradyLS
Frank Zappa and Robert Fripp are two artists I recognize as having created their own labels (Barking Pumpkin and Discipline, respectively) to publish and distribute their own work (I think that’s right). Who else has done that?

Herb Alpert created A&M Records with Jerry Moss.

4 posted on 06/03/2009 11:49:10 AM PDT by MozarkDawg
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To: BradyLS

Prince did it for awhile. It is part of the reason he changed his name. To confound WB while he still owed them albums.

He released albums on his own for awhile and then went to Sony.

Bowie left the majors for Rycodisc because he didn’t like RCA putting his albums out as budget releases using inferior source materials. Eventually he went to another company as well.


5 posted on 06/03/2009 11:49:29 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Justice is blind. Sonia Sotomayor is not even qualified to sit on an IMPARTIAL jury.)
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To: a fool in paradise

I presume Cher is liberal like most of the denizens of Hollywood, but I give her credit for not badmouthing Sonny in politics and giving an offbeat but acceptable eulogy at his funeral. It shows that just because people differ in their political views they don’t have to vilify each other.


6 posted on 06/03/2009 11:50:11 AM PDT by Burkean
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To: BradyLS

Frank, Prince, and others also had home studios. Saved on expenses.

Many bands “owe” their label bogus production costs that take years to pay off for recording an album where the label instructs them to go.


7 posted on 06/03/2009 11:50:38 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Justice is blind. Sonia Sotomayor is not even qualified to sit on an IMPARTIAL jury.)
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To: a fool in paradise

She must make a FORTUNE on Groundhog Day!


8 posted on 06/03/2009 12:12:56 PM PDT by waverna
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To: a fool in paradise

I guess Cher nees the money, she hasnt been working a lot lately.


9 posted on 06/03/2009 12:53:14 PM PDT by Venturer
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To: Venturer

Heaven forbid, she’s getting ripped off on “Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves.”


10 posted on 06/03/2009 12:55:04 PM PDT by dfwgator (USM is Gator Bait! (Congrats to U-Dub!))
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