Posted on 02/28/2025 10:34:29 AM PST by nickcarraway
Rick Springfield learned firsthand how exploitative the music industry can be to naive young artists.
During a recent conversation with SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk, the “Jessie’s Girl” singer detailed one of his biggest early career mishaps.
“The music business has always preyed on the young. Absolutely,” Springfield noted. “And I got preyed on when I was like 20 and I signed away my publishing rights because I didn't know any better.”
“I was in Australia and these big Americans sent over this contract and we didn't know about lawyers,” the rocker continued. “I didn't even have a lawyer look at it and I just said, ‘OK, this must be fair.’ And I signed it and realized a couple of years later that they owned all of my publishing.”
Rick Springfield Supports Taking 'All Their Music Back' While Springfield chalked up the experience as “just the way of the world,” he also commended artists like Taylor Swift who have found creative ways to regain control of their music catalogs.
“[It] would always amaze me that I'd spend $100,000 on a frigging video in the ‘80s and the record company would own it,” the singer remarked. “The majority of [the labels] just would shove product down the pipeline as much as they could, until the pipeline choked. That was kind of their approach. So every artist has absolutely their due to take all their music back.”
Springfield released his compilation album Big Hits: Rick Springfield's Greatest Hits, Vol. 2. He'll also hit the road for the I Want My '80s tour alongside John Waite beginning May 28.
Leave Rick Springfield alone. 😢
Sorry, I meant BRUCE
Or Stacy’s mom . . .
Yeh, that guy. 😉
I’m not sure what record companies bring to the game nowadays.
For decades, musicians made money by touring. Recording revenue was small by comparison.
It is my understanding that Micheal Jackson once owned the Beatles catalog and the Beatles sold their catalog to get lower taxed capital gains income.
“19 for me, 1 for you, I’m the taxman....”
Not getting all the Rick Springfield hate here. Probably just jealous.
Here’s the way I heard it. Michael Jackson bought the Beatles’ song catalog in 1985 for $47.5 million.
It made Jackson one of the most powerful music publishers in the world, but also strained his relationship with Paul McCartney. Jackson bought the catalog from ATV Music, which was owned by Australian billionaire Robert Holmes a Court.
Jackson later sold 50% of ATV to Sony for $95 million, creating Sony/ATV. In 2006, Jackson sold another 25% of his shares to Sony.
The purchase caused a rift between Jackson and McCartney, who was a close friend at the time. McCartney called the purchase “dodgy” and said that Jackson “commercialized” the Beatles’ music.
In 2017 McCartney filed a lawsuit against Sony/ATV to regain his ownership stake in the Beatles publishing catalog. Paul McCartney settled with Sony/ATV over Beatles music rights but it was confidential.
McCartney had sued for a declaration so that he could reclaim more than 260 copyrights, including for songs credited to him and John Lennon such as “I Want to Hold Your Hand,” “Yesterday” and “Hey Jude.”
After the ‘Party of Nine’ bellyflops into that swimming pool, there will be a great possibility of water surface overflow.
The guests will be slippin’ and slidin’ in their thongs and flip-flops on the surrounding patio.
He is a good singer.
I hope he gets the rights to the songs he wrote back.
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