LOS ANGELES (Top40 Charts) - Don Henley, Don Henley, LeAnn Rimes,
Courtney Love were among the artists who testified against unfair, long-term recording contracts before the California
State Senate on Wednesday (Sept. 6) in Sacramento, Calif.
"I just turned 19 last month," Rimes told the State Senate's new Select Committee on the Entertainment Industry, as quoted by the Associated Press. "If I record one album every two years, which is the industry average, I will be 35 when my contract is up.''
All the artists present painted a vivid picture of record labels as greedy, enslaving units that bind na�ve artists to grossly unfair terms for the better part of their careers. Recent lawsuits by the Dixie Chicks and the ongoing battle between Love and Universal Music Group are both examples of artist's protesting the industry standard of seven albums per service contact (which can take up to 15 years to record).
"I have a swimming pool. I have nice shoes," Love told the Senate. "Nobody's sitting here saying, 'I'm so poor.' I made more for Universal than Titanic. Are they nice to me? No."
LeAnn Rimes |
Although California labor laws restrict service contracts between employees and companies to seven years, recording artists subject to a different set of rules since a 1987 amendment which excluded them from the "Seven-Year Statute."
"Recording artists have been singled out as the only group of working people who are not afforded equal protection under California law,'' said Henley at the hearing. "The '87 amendment is grossly unfair. We'd like to see it repealed.''
Representatives of the record labels countered from an investment angle, that for every superstar, there is a myriad of artists who don't earn back the label's initial investment. "The major difference with our business is we invest millions of dollars in an artist and if it doesn't work, they walk," said Ark 21 owner Miles Copeland. "We as an industry, it's risk versus profit. It's common sense. You take away profit, you take away any willingness to risk."
While there is currently no legislation moving to change things, Sen. Kevin Murray, who called the hearing and heads up the new Select Committee on the Entertainment Industry, hopes Wednesday's events will spark off movement in that direction. Meanwhile, artists are sure to continue with their protests.
"If I was depending on my recording career to sustain me 45 years in this business, I'd be a dead heifer,'' said Patti Austin.
