In the four days since Morgan Wallen was caught on camera and said he had a racial upheaval, the country music industry has suffered a setback. He was banned from land radio, the largest talent agency WME dropped him as a client and his record deal – a joint partnership between Big Loud and Republic Records – was suspended indefinitely.
The label development, which puts Wallen’s most important business contract in limbo, is the most curious – and ambiguous. Several lawyers, executives and insiders in the industry, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, said Rolling clip that until Big Loud and Republic take a decisive stance on what their next steps are, it’s unclear how meaningful (or shallow) Wallen’s suspension actually is.
“A suspension in itself actually does nothing,” says Karl Fowlkes, an attorney and professor of music at Drexel University and Rowan University. ‘The issue of suspension is pretty irregular, and I think it’s a cognitive legal word choice to make them more flexible to pull out the contract. Even between projects and album releases, there is no rush to pick up any timeline that is on these contracts. Since there is never a sense of urgency, it is simply a PR reaction to rack up an artist. ‘
One leading manager of the music industry initially agreed with Fowlkes’ assessment when they heard about the suspension. But according to them, Big Loud can protect their investment for the time being.
My first take was, ‘It’s very toothless,’ but I do not think there should be a company that has invested all this time and money. [into an artist] must drop him, ”said the driver. ‘There are a lot of sports teams that will say,’ Look, you’re not going to play, but we’re not going to release you so you can go play for someone else. ”
However, another lawyer in the industry who has worked with several high-profile clients remains skeptical about the meaning of the suspension. “I can not imagine that an indefinite suspension is anything other than the label that should issue a statement for PR purposes,” he says. ‘This is far less serious than the things of the Marilyn Manson of today. [Wallen] had a drunk night where he used the ‘a-word’. Unfortunately, we still live in a country where the country music market will forgive it more than once. ‘
Without reviewing Wallen’s contract, it is difficult to define what his specific suspension actually entails, other than that the label postpones its obligations to an artist. This could mean that the marketing budgets earmarked for Wallen’s work would be discontinued; to halt the progress of his projects; and even suspend payment on Wallen’s royalties. Wallen wrote more than half of the 30 songs on his current album, the number one week, Dangerous: the double album.
Several lawyers represented by Rolling clip note that suspension was more common in decades-old record contracts, coupled with “morality clauses,” which gave labels the right to suspend their obligations to the artist if they broke from an established set of values. It has become rarer as contracts have become artist-friendly, but it is not unfamiliar in land acquisition transactions, especially not for younger clients. “As the artists got more leverage, these clauses mostly disappeared,” industry longtime lawyer Peter Paterno said in an email. It’s not clear whether Wallen’s contract contains such a morality clause – and as other executives say Rolling clip, it is not clear whether his utterance of a racial utterance justifies its use.
‘[Wallen] had a drunk night where he used the ‘a-word’. “Unfortunately, we still live in a country where the country music market will forgive it more than once,” said one lawyer.
Although none of the label’s potential actions outlined above are necessarily weightless, they hold little for the longer term. Big Loud did not permanently drop Wallen from his list – although his name and image were removed from the label’s website – the label could not lose money on Wallen’s previously released music, as Iong as the songs are available to stream and buy. (As of Saturday, Big Loud has not removed any of Wallen’s music from streaming services.) In the days since the controversy began, Wallen’s radio turnaround has dropped dramatically, but its digital song sales have risen by about 327% , and his album sales shot up 1,220. %. ‘The fans are not pulling away from him; if so, lean in, ”says an insider.
Nearly every source who spoke for this article said that anything other than the revenue from Wallen’s rise to the scandal used to amplify other divergent voices – or to cut profits completely – would undermine the suspension. “If they even raise a penny of this increase, it’s going to look bad,” said Rick Daniels, program director for Indiana Land Station WKKG.
“What are you suspending?” Ask Fowlkes. ‘What does it mean if you still make money from this artist? If they suspend his term, they give him more money within a year or two … without forcing any change, by spending money on him or taking cash, it could possibly make racist behavior and comments that came out make. ”
Neither Big Loud nor Republic has responded to several requests from Rolling clip to specify the details behind Wallen’s suspension and what actions outside the announcement the two labels are planning, including their intentions for incoming revenue. Several sources have been particularly critical of Republic, which has yet to make a statement about the controversy out there. relocation Big Loud’s suspension announcement.
“If you’re Coca-Cola and the goodwill of American citizens benefits from a century, if a spokesman does something wrong, you cut ties with them,” says the artist manager. ‘It does not affect your conclusion. No one, in my opinion, is looking at Big Loud to make a statement. These are just a few guys who started a record company outside their office. If it’s anything, I feel like Republic should have been the one who said, ‘This is not what we signed up for,’ and they reveal it. “
Fowlkes, who is black, is concerned that the labels’ actions are similar to events such as Blackout Tuesday, which he said were benevolent but had the nuances needed to bring about change.
“There were a lot of hurts from the music industry in 2020 and 2021. The reactions to social injustice, a lot of it was a half-baked performance overnight, and months later we’re here, and nobody seems to be talking about it,” Fowlkes said. ‘They could make a more transparent statement to say that they are investigating the matter and sending out a more specific plan on what is going to happen until we see behavior change. To me, this seems like an easy thing to do. Usually it was an overblown tactic to give time and come back a year when most people would not remember. ”
“What are you suspending? What does it mean if you still make money from this artist? ‘- Attorney Karl Fowlkes, music industry
Another prominent black music CEO who focuses on racial equality in the industry acknowledges that the suspension seems empty, but welcomes the decisive action of the industry in general, which has been historically sluggish, if at all.
“In the past, there had to be a commotion for days where people talked on the internet and in interviews about how wrong something was before taking action,” the executive said. It remains to be seen what ‘indefinite suspension’ means and what it really is. It remains to be seen whether the industry will take this seriously and say that in the first place they are not going to make contracts with people who have these values. I want to believe that people are willing to do more than just be performative. ”
Both Fowlkes and the executive agree that Big Loud and Republic do not necessarily have to drop Wallen to take meaningful action. Instead, they can allocate resources and funding to artists who may not have had the same resources as Wallen – or other white artists – received. They can also ensure that their fallen landlord realizes his ignorance and works to rectify it before being brought back into the kraal.
Another driver in Nashville who spoke to Rolling clip says we may never know what the suspension actually means for Wallen or the label. But according to them, it is a definite end point. “‘Indefinitely suspended’ is a slap in the face to every artist in this city who are less and less,” they say. “If you look at Morgan Wallen from the perspective of what country music wanted to achieve and the way they pursued it. , he is the perfect end to the bro-country era and the whole ethos that has been established to support it. “
“They created this monster, this monster was released into the world, but they do not want to let the monster go,” the driver adds, “because the monster will still make money for them.”
Additional reporting by Joseph Hudak