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Country singer-songwriter Dwight Yoakam is suing his label Warner Music Group (WMG) for not handing back the rights to his early recordings.
Yoakam says that his demands to reclaim his ownership rights to songs on his 1984 chart-topping debut album Guitars, Cadillacs, Etc., Etc., including “Honky Tonk Man,” “Guitars, Cadillacs” and “It Won’t Hurt” as well as their corresponding music videos from WMG have either been denied or ignored, according to a 25-page complaint filed Tuesday in California federal court. Yoakam’s team claims that the singer’s basic right of being allowed to recapture his copyrights granted by the Copyright Act of 1976 are are being obstructed by WMG, “a corporation that has already made millions of dollars off of the works of Mr. Yoakam.”
Yoakam is demanding the court affirmatively rule that the songs should automatically return to him at the end of the right’s period termination. He is also seeking an excess of $1 million in damages against WMG.
“Having profited and benefited off of Mr. Yoakam for 35 years, [WMG] do not want their gravy train to end, and have therefore refused to acknowledge and accept Mr. Yoakam’s valid Notices of Termination served properly under Section 203 of the United States Copyright of 1976 in blatant disregard of Mr. Yoakam’s rights,” states the complaint.
The Copyright Act permits authors to terminate the grant of their copyright during a five-year window beginning five years from the end of 35 years from the date of execution of the grant; or, if the grant covers the right of publication of the work, the period begins at the end of 35 years from the date of publication of the work under the grant or at the end of forty years from the date of execution of the grant, whichever term ends earlier. This “second bite at the apple” is extremely valuable to authors, the complaint states, as it allows them to finally own their creations as well as financially benefit from the works, states the court papers.
Yoakam’s attorney Richard Busch says in the complaint that the singer’s managers and transactional counsel have had numerous phone calls over the past two years with WMG about Yoakam’s plan to recapture his rights and sent formal termination notices. Instead of handing back the rights, however, the complaint states that WMG responded by taking down works by Yoakam and informing his legal team that “we have not yet made a decision as to how to proceed” with the works contained in the termination notices, according to Yoakam’s complaint.
Busch said his client is “being irreparably injured every day” that WMG fails to recognize the validity of the notices. He said his client’s work is essentially being held hostage “paralyzing Mr. Yoakam from financially benefiting from his statutory right to terminate the transfer of his copyrights to WMG.” Busch argues in the complaint that “Yoakam’s works return to him by virtue of his statutory right ingrained in the Copyright Act, regardless of what the defendants “decide.”
WMG has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Robin Thicke is set to release his new album On Earth, and in Heaven this Friday (Feb. 12), and the singer sat down with Zane Lowe on Apple Music on Wednesday (Feb. 10) for a wide-ranging interview about the deaths of his father Alan Thicke and mentor Andre Harrell, and the toxic habits sparked by the success of his 2013 hit, “Blurred Lines.”
While he admitted that early in his career, “nobody believed in me but me,” the “Blurred Lines” era gave Thicke his “first taste of that kind of fame.”
“I started to chase it more and need it more and think that that was what was going to make me happy,” he said. “Ultimately, of course, it never does. It didn’t. I lost myself in the process chasing something that I never had and never needed, but then once I got some of it, I thought I needed it.”
“For me, it wasn’t until I actually went to Malibu, slowed down, focused on my son, and then my father passed and I focused on having more kids and more of a family and taking my time with the writing, because I was writing so much, but nothing was really saying anything that mattered to me as a whole, as a whole,” he continued. “Bits and pieces. Then I just kind of started to realize that I always wanted to be an artist’s artist, a singer-songwriter, and all I cared about was my catalog, was the songs. Then I got into all this other stuff that you just get caught up in, man. Then I wasn’t happy. I wasn’t happy. I had bad routines, and I lost myself. Then, even worse, I lost the music. I lost my trust and my confidence in my own music. So that didn’t come back totally until Andre passed.”
“Bad routines. Bad habits,” he added. “The parties, what happens is every night is a performance and a dinner and a party. Then you’re onto the next city, and it’s a performance and a dinner and a party. Then you get caught up in it. Then you end up with some personal struggles with your marriage or things like that. For me, it was like 20 great years, and then fame hit at the worst time and throw it all into a melting pot. I was the wrong guy for the job.”
However, through his personal growth, Thicke continues to have a healthy relationship with “Blurred Lines.” “Usually, the first piece, when it goes, ‘Bump, bump, bump, everybody get up.’ The crowd goes crazy,” he explained. “It’s one of their favorite songs of mine, no question. The people who aren’t big fans of mine, that’s the only one they know. It’s true. It’s like if I’m doing a casino show and they’re like, ‘Who is this guy?,” then all of a sudden, “Oh, okay. I know this one.’”
“I’ve realized that the reason I started all this is because I love music,” he added. “I love to make music. Then once I started performing, I love to perform. So I just go for that part of it. I’ve never added anything to it that was extra. I’ve never tried to put anything on it, but we’re just jamming, and let’s everybody get up and dance. That’s all that song meant to people.”
For his new album, Thicke says his “intentions are pure” once more. “I want to make great music that spreads love, that feels like a warm blanket, that brings people closer together, that helps heal wounds and bring bonds back, and that’s what I needed,” he continued. “And that’s what this music has done for me and that’s what I wanted to do for others.”
Watch the full interview here.
In the past year, Taylor Swift gave fans Folklore, its sister project Evermore and revealed that she’s re-recording her first six albums in an effort to control her own masters. But she’s not done with the treats yet.
Good Morning America revealed in a tweet on Wednesday (Feb. 10) that the superstar will be making a “surprise announcement” on Thursday’s episode, which airs at 7 a.m. on ABC. The accompanying 10-second teaser didn’t reveal any additional information, featuring only an acoustic guitar instrumental.
Swifties on Twitter immediately began speculating what the big surprise could be, with the most popular theory being the release of Swift’s re-recorded Fearless cut, “Love Story,” just in time for Valentine’s Day.
Swift first teased the new version of “Love Story” in December, with a snippet featured in an ad for dating site Match written by Ryan Reynolds.
“Okay so while my new re-records are NOT done, my friend @VancityReynolds asked me if he could use a snippet of one for a LOLsome commercial he wrote so…here’s a sneak peak of ‘Love Story’!” she tweeted at the time.
Happy Valentine’s Day…and Singles Awareness Day. Time to get swiping!
As the day of love gets closer and closer, Tinder revealed on Wednesday (Feb. 10) its top anthems added to users’ profiles globally. According to the popular dating app, adding an anthem improves swiping experience, leading to more matches. Music is also the No. 1 “passion” members include on their profiles globally, so featuring your favorite song might be the best way to snag a V-Day virtual date.
The current top Tinder Anthems include SZA’s breezy “Good Days,” and Olivia Rodrigo’s heartbreaking “Drivers License.” The Weeknd’s “Blinding Lights” and “Save Your Tears,” 24kGoldn and Iann Dior’s “Mood,” Ariana Grande’s “34+35″ and “Positions,” Bad Bunny and Jhay Cortez’s “Dakiti,” CJ’s “Whoopty” and Doja Cat’s “Streets” also made the list.
Once you got that date set, time to set the mood with a great playlist. Spotify revealed some of the top songs added to user-generated Valentine’s Day playlists globally in the last 90 days, leading with John Legend’s swoon-worthy “All of Me.” Bruno Mars’ “Just the Way You Are,” Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love,” Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” and “Thinking Out Loud,” The Temptations’ “My Girl,” Whitney Houston’s “I Will Always Love You,” Etta James’ “At Last,” Elton John’s “Your Song” and Christina Perri’s “A Thousand Years” were also top picks.
See below for Tinder’s Valentine’s Day Spotify playlist.
UPDATE: Two days after debuting a snippet on TikTok, P!nk took to Twitter on Wednesday (Feb. 10) to announce that she and her daughter Willow Sage Hart will release the original song “Cover Me in Sunshine” on Friday. “We thought we’d put it out around Valentine’s Day as a big old hug and kiss to all y’all,” P!nk says in the Twitter video.
P!nk brought some sunshine to TikTok for her first video on the video platform Monday, and she got some help from 9-year-old daughter Willow.
The mother-daughter duo kick off their first clip by finishing up a short chat, where Willow concludes with, “Or I could just sing ‘Cover Me in Sunshine,’” and delves right into the sweet original song.
“Cover me in sunshine/ Shower me in good times/ Tell me that the world’s been spinning/ Since the beginning and everything will be all right/ Just cover me in sunshine,” she sings before the 41-year-old pop superstar pops into the video frame for the first time and cheers her on.
This isn’t the first time Willow’s followed in her mother’s musical footsteps: The two teamed up to perform a heartwarming cover of “The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire)” by Nat King Cole for The Disney Holiday Singalong last year.
See P!nk’s first TikTok, featuring Willow’s performance, here.
@pinkofficialCover me in♬ original sound – P!NK
The booming business of Miami pastor Guillermo Maldonado, which helps him pay for what court records describe as a half-dozen properties, at least three cars and a nine-seat jet, depends … Click to Continue »
