As the back-and-forth involving Shallipopi, Seyi Vibez, T.I Blaze and music executive Dapper continues to intensify, Dapper Group has issued a fresh statement addressing the growing allegations surrounding catalogue earnings, royalties and master ownership.
The recent statement comes after Dapper had previously addressed the controversy, but as questions and accusations continuing to circulate online, the group has now provided further context on the financial claims being made against the music executive and his business.
In the statement released by his group, Dapper Group said:
“I should also be clearer about the figures being quoted, because I think they are being misunderstood. A catalogue revenue number is not money waiting in an account. Before anything reaches an artist, the platforms take their share, the distributor takes theirs, and the costs the label advanced are recouped from what remains. That is the order, it is written into every agreement, and it was explained before signing.
“The numbers being quoted online are gross figures from the top of that chain, not net earnings at the bottom of it.
“The investment exceeded the earnings, the balances remain unrecouped, and what is outstanding is owed to the company, not by it.
“When you place what was actually earned beside what was actually invested, these accounts do not show a label holding money that belongs to an artist. They show the opposite.
“I am not going to publish figures here, because figures belong in an audit and in the processes already underway, and I have invited exactly that scrutiny. But I will not let the impression stand that money was earned and withheld. It was not.”
“There is also a great deal being said about masters, so let me deal with it directly. When a label funds the making of a record, it holds the recording it paid for. That is not a Dapper invention and it is not peculiar to us. It is how recorded music has been structured here and everywhere else, for one simple reason: a master is not free.
“Somebody paid for the studio time, the producer, the mixing, the mastering, the artwork, the video and the campaign that made anyone hear the song at all. Ownership follows that money and that risk. Anyone who has built a label in this country will tell you the same thing.
“None of this was hidden or discovered later. Our position on ownership is written into the agreements, it was there before anyone signed, it was explained, and it was agreed by both sides. It was negotiated, not imposed.”
“Social media is not a court of law, and the person who cries the loudest is not automatically the person who is right. A tweet is not evidence. A viral video is not a judgment. Repeated insults are not arguments.
“If there is a disagreement about money, contracts or accounting, let us put the documents on the table. We have said this several times, and each time we are brought back to the same circle of tarnishing my name and my business.
“Let me be direct about one specific claim, because it keeps being repeated.
“I have not sold anyone’s catalogue. Not to a distributor, not to a third party, not to anyone.”
Follow Us on Facebook – @LadunLiadi; Instagram – @LadunLiadi; Twitter – @LadunLiadi; Youtube – @LadunLiadiTV for updates
