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Salt-N-Pepa Sues UMG to Regain Masters, Says Label Is Holding Catalog ‘Hostage’

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Salt-N-Pepa is taking Universal Music Group (UMG) to court to regain control of the duo’s masters, alleging in a new lawsuit that the record label is refusing to honor copyright clawback rights and has instead “punished” the legendary hip-hop act by removing some of its music from streaming.

The lawsuit, filed Monday (May 19) in New York federal court, accuses UMG of ignoring Salt-N-Pepa’s so-called “termination rights” under Section 203 of the Copyright Act. This provision allows artists who sign over their master recordings to regain control of that intellectual property 35 years after a song’s release.

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UMG owns Salt-N-Pepa’s masters per two contracts that the “Push It” singers, Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton, signed with UMG subsidiaries Next Plateau Records and London Records in 1986 and 1992.

Salt-N-Pepa served UMG with a notice of termination rights in 2022, claiming its albums Hot, Cool & Vicious (1986) and A Salt With A Deadly Pepa (1988) were both up for copyright termination in 2024. The duo also said Blacks’ Magic (1990) and A Blitz of Salt-N-Pepa Hits (1990) are up in 2025 and that Very Necessary (1993) — which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 — is up in 2026 alongside The Greatest Hits (1991).

But UMG allegedly rejected Salt-N-Pepa’s notice as “invalid and ineffective,” claiming termination rights do not apply because the albums were “works made for hire.” UMG then took Hot, Cool & Vicious and A Salt With A Deadly Pepa down from streaming, a move Salt-N-Pepa describes as “punishing” the group by holding their music “hostage.”

“UMG has, in fact, halted exploitation of the relevant sound recordings in the United States, thereby effectively demonetizing plaintiffs’ catalogue,” wrote Salt-N-Pepa’s attorneys from the law firm Blank Rome. “This is an effort by UMG to pressure plaintiffs into giving up on their effort to recoup their rights to their sound recordings. Plaintiffs are not willing to do so.”

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Salt-N-Pepa’s lawyers say that contrary to what UMG is claiming, nothing in the duo’s original contracts with Next Plateau Records and London Records defined its music as “works made for hire.” UMG therefore “makes no legitimate argument against the effectiveness of the notices of termination,” alleges the lawsuit.

“UMG appears to take the position that it can unilaterally decide when and/or if a recording artist is entitled to termination,” wrote the Blank Rome team. “This is not the law, and UMG does not have this power.”

Salt-N-Pepa is asking the court to declare the duo’s termination rights valid and award it control of the masters. The duo is also seeking monetary damages for UMG’s alleged wrongdoing in an amount “believed to well exceed $1 million.”

The lawsuit comes just months before Salt-N-Pepa is due to become the second-ever female hip-hop act to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this November. The group’s legal reps say in a statement, “This fight is about more than contracts — it’s about legacy, justice and the future of artist ownership.”

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“In a stunning act of retaliation, UMG has pulled their songs from all major platforms in the U.S., punishing them for asserting those rights and silencing decades of culture-shifting work,” the reps add. “Like many artists, they’re challenging a system that profits from their work while denying them control.”

Representatives from UMG did not immediately return a request for comment.

This is not the first time UMG has been pulled into court over termination rights. The label and Sony Music Entertainment both inked class action settlements last year over years of closely-watched litigation, in which recording artists sought to win back control of their masters en masse.

Individual artists have also brought one-off lawsuits over termination rights, such as a case that 2 Live Crew won at trial against a small record label last year. The provision also played a significant role in Cher’s royalty battle with Sonny Bono’s widow, in which a judge ruled that termination rights didn’t trump the couple’s divorce settlement.

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Entertainment

2025 Q2 Earnings: Here’s What Every Music Company Made

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The only sure thing in this earnings season is unpredictability. While the global economy remains resilient in the face of U.S. tariffs, and U.S. gross domestic product grew 3% in Q2, stocks took a hit from a weak U.S. jobs report on Aug. 1, and some experts believe a constant drip, drip, drip of negative developments will cause “death by a thousand cuts.”

Music companies’ early results also offered mixed signals. Spotify, the first music company out of the gate on July 29, posted solid year-over-year growth but disappointed investors with weaker-than-expected guidance for the third quarter. Spotify shares dipped 11.6% as a result. Two days later, Universal Music Group (UMG) posted 4.5% revenue growth and 8.5% subscription growth. But investors were hesitant — was it a lack of margin improvement or concerns about cash flow? — and UMG’s share price dipped 5.2% the following day.

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Below are summaries, listed in alphabetical order, of every music company to report second quarter earnings as of Aug. 7. Billboard will update the page as more results are announced. (If the summary includes a hyperlink, click on it to get the full story.)

  • Cumulus Media. The No. 3 radio company in the U.S. posted a 9.2% drop in revenue and an 11.3% decline in adjusted EBITDA. Broadcast radio revenue was down 13.0% and digital fell 1.4%. CEO Mary Berner referred to a “challenging” advertising environment for legacy media companies and noted that Cumulus created an additional $5 million in cost reductions in the quarter, bringing its total annualized cost cuts to $175 million over the last five years. 
  • Deezer: Total revenue was flat at 267.1 million euros ($298.1 million), and subscribers fell 7.6% to 9.2 million (subscriptions through B2B partnerships fell 21% to 3.9 million). But the French music streamer managed its costs, resulting in improved operating loss and adjusted EBITDA. The company reiterated its belief that it will finish 2025 with both positive cash flow (for the second consecutive year) and positive adjusted EBITDA. Go here for the full article.
  • HYBE: South Korea’s HYBE said on Wednesday (Aug. 6) that its second quarter revenue rose 10.2% year-over-year to $516.7 million, while operating profit jumped nearly 30% to $48.3 million due to successful global tours and releases from several of its artists, including BTS members Jin and j-hope. Recorded music revenue fell by nearly 8.5%, but that was offset by double-digit year-over-year increases in merchandise and touring revenue. The company said news of BTS members completing their military service also drove record-high engagement for its superfan platform Weverse. For more, read the full article.
  • Reservoir Media: Quarterly revenue rose 8% to $37.2 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2026 on strong recorded music and sync revenue. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), a popular measure of profitability, was up 10% to $13.9 million. Acquisitions in the quarter, which contribute to the company’s revenue from catalogs, include a strategic partnership struck with Fool’s Gold and an investment in an experiential entertainment company called Lightroom. Go here for more details.
  • SiriusXM: SiriusXM reported that overall revenue of $2.14 billion in the second quarter fell 2% from the year-ago quarter, pressured by lower subscriber growth, a legal settlement and higher operating expenses. The satellite radio giant is rolling out a new $7 subscription option to try to boost lagging ad revenue and subscriber growth. SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz said they will cautiously roll out the new offering, as they push other initiatives aimed at improving their standing amid a “challenging…ad market.” The full story is here.
  • SM Entertainment: Album sales and events revenue from RIIZE and NCT WISH helped SM Entertainment’s consolidated revenue increase 19.3% to $216.5 million. Album and digital music revenue jumped 37.9% to $70.8 million, and merchandise and licensing revenue rose 39.6% to $45.7 million. Concert revenue was flat at $24.0 million. For a breakdown of subsidiary revenue, check out the article.
  • Sony Music: Led by Bad Bunny’s DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS, SZA’s SOS and Sleep Token’s Even in Arcadia, Sony Music’s consolidated revenue up 5.3% to $3.22 billion in the first fiscal quarter ended June 30. A strong yen made year-over-year comparisons a challenge. Recorded music was up 0.7% to $2.09 billion but improved 8.4% on a dollar basis (Sony does not report results in constant currency). Music publishing revenue rose 2.1% as reported; on a dollar-denominated basis, is improved 9.8%. More info at the full article.
  • Sonos. Revenue of $344.8 million was down 13.2% from the prior-year period, the company announced Aug. 7. Gross margin fell to 43.4% from 44.7% as CFO Saori Casey noted “a complex environment marked by tariffs and an uncertain macroeconomic backdrop.” Go here for Billboard‘s coverage of Sonos, its recent layoffs and how it cut sales projections after a disastrous app redesign in May 2024. 
  • Spotify: The streaming giant enjoyed another quarter in which it beat its own subscriber and monthly user growth targets, but a lukewarm financial forecast from executives and lower quarterly operating income due to currency fluctuations and taxes caused a sharp one-day selloff in its stock. Check out our article about the earnings release and a follow-up story with takeaways from the company’s second quarter results.
  • Universal Music Group: Revenue increased 4.5% to $3.38 billion while recorded music subscription revenue rose 8.5% to $1.36 billion (all growth figures in constant currency). Elsewhere, music publishing soared 14.5% with a boost from Chord Music Partners, but both merchandising and physical recorded music dipped. For more, read our earnings story and a follow-up article with takeaways from the results.
  • Warner Music Group: WMG reported revenue grew to $1.7 billion in the last quarter thanks to a double-digit increase in publishing revenue and strong subscription streaming returns. That helped offset the impact of losing BMG as a distribution client and helped push Warner’s stock price up by 3.5%. All the details at the full article. More insights are in the follow-up article.
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Selena Gomez Reveals Which Old Song She Wants to Re-Record and Perform Again

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Selena Gomez is looking back on her music catalog with fondness.

Before launching her solo career, the 33-year-old singer and actress fronted the pop-rock band Selena Gomez & the Scene, releasing three studio albums between 2009 and 2012. Now, she’s reflecting on a standout track from those early days.

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In an interview on the Therapuss podcast, released Wednesday (Aug. 6), Gomez told host Jake Shane that her favorite song from her time with the band is “Who Says,” the lead single from their final album, When the Sun Goes Down. The track peaked at No. 21 on the Billboard Hot 100 in July 2011.

“It’s the most powerful moment when I get to perform it,” the Only Murders in the Building actress said. “That’s honestly the only reason I would ever do a tour again … is if I could perform ‘Who Says.'”

Gomez, who hasn’t toured since 2016, said she’d need to “take it down an octave from each year I’ve sang it” if she were to perform it today. She’s also open to re-recording the track, noting that her voice on the original sounds “young.”

“I need to redo it,” she said. “I should recut it.”

The Emilia Pérez star also opened up about the song’s empowering message and revealed that she once teared up while hearing it on the radio during a trip abroad.

“I was like, ‘Why the f—k am I tearing up to my own song?'” she said. “But it was because it was the little me who was there saying these really powerful messages that I still need to hear.”

Elsewhere in the interview, the Rare Beauty founder reminisced about how she first bonded with longtime friend Taylor Swift nearly two decades ago — after both experienced breakups with the Jonas Brothers.

“She and I like to say the best thing we got out of those relationships was each other,” Gomez told Shane. “We became best friends, bonded over the breakup, as girls do. Then we just stuck around for all the ups and downs that came after, and here we are now 16 years later.”

Most recently, the Wizards of Waverly Place alum dropped a joint album with fiancé Benny Blanco, I Said I Love You First, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in May.

Watch Gomez talking about “Who Says” at the 21-minute mark in the Therapuss interview below.

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Justin Bieber Shares Sweet Father-Son Moment With 11-Month-Old Son Jack Blues

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Justin Bieber is soaking up some quality time with his 11-month-old son, Jack Blues.

On Saturday (Aug. 9), the 31-year-old pop superstar shared a series of heartwarming selfies on social media, showing sweet moments with Jack Blues, who will celebrate his first birthday on Aug. 22.

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In the Instagram carousel, Bieber posted three photos featuring the father-son duo, with Jack’s face intentionally kept out of view. In the first snapshot, the “Dadz Love” singer gazes into the camera while his son’s tiny feet peek into the frame. The next two images capture tender moments, with Bieber lovingly kissing the back of his Jack Blues’ head.

Last month, Bieber — who shares Jack Blues with his wife, Hailey Bieber — also gave fans a peek at their little one during a visit to the recording studio, where he was likely working on his latest album, Swag. The project dropped on July 11 and debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.

Jack Blues and Hailey also appear in the music video for Justin’s new song “Yukon,” released on Aug. 5. The black-and-white visual, directed by Cole Bennett, shows the Bieber family basking in the sun aboard a sleek yacht resembling the logo of Justin’s new apparel brand Skylrk. The video captures tender moments as the couple cuddles their son and kisses his tiny toes while creating an adorable family portrait.

“We shot this a couple weeks back over the course of a few days in Spain & Italy. Shot on FX3 & GoPro, printed on 16mm film. I’ll remember these memories for the rest of my life. Thank you for everything,” Bennett wrote on Instagram, tagging both Justin and Hailey.

“Yukon” marks Jack Blues’ official music video debut, while Hailey has previously made appearances in several of her husband’s visuals, including DJ Khaled and Drake’s “Popstar,” Dan + Shay and Bieber’s “10,000 Hours,” and Ariana Grande and Bieber’s “Stuck with U.”

Check out Bieber’s adorable father-son selfies on Instagram here.

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