Ke$ha: Classic or Dud?

A standard music industry contract (I used to work for a label) is seven albums, with the artist getting a higher advance for each subsequent album, but after each album the label has the option to renew or not. So if Sony lets Kesha make another album, and it tanks, they can drop her and she can go work with whoever will work with her.

but Dr Luke would have to produce the record, if I understand correctly?

No, he wouldn't be involved directly.

The objection is that Sony could deliberately stall her career by not releasing or promoting any records she makes.

i think the injunction hearing yesterday was about deciding whether or not the court could take the possibility of kesha working with dr. luke again off the table legally

sony and luke's label kemosabe have apparently agreed to allow kesha to work with other non-luke writers and producers but team kesha argues that sony will decline to properly promote/fund collaborations with other producers unless the court insists that luke is legally removed from the table as an option

exploitative contracts and NDA agreements cover up a lot of abuses in the industry, something that might help here is if there was some kind of artist/performer's bill of rights which specifies that recording contracts and non-disclosure agreements can be voided in cases where abuses like this happen

thanks for the clarification!

i feel bad for speculating about how to solve the problem itt it's a very complicated issue and even though it could be solved instantly by people not being dicks my understanding of it all is feeble and i have absolutely no idea what to do about it

Seems like Sony/Kemosabe should release her from contract on their own volition at this point.
Is whatever they gain in not doing so really worth all of the (rightfully) negative chatter?
Do they really imagine future Kesha delivering hit after hit for them, glad-handing on tv, operating like this never happened?

What can they possibly gain from this?
Seems only sensible to dissolve the contract and move on.

i would guess they're concerned about the precedent? It's immensely shitty no matter how you look at it.

here is a good/useful legal rundown http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2016/02/kesha-dr-luke-lawsuit

sony's gonna drop dr luke

i'm skeptical of these reports. it would be good news though.

not sure how "is paid off to 'mutually' exit the contract" is a far-fetched scenario here

i don't think it's an implausible story, it's just an "unnamed sources saying what people want to hear" story at the moment so you never know

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/judge-rules-kesha-honor-sony-contract-dr-luke-article-1.2591100

(Judge) Kornreich, who denied Kesha’s bid to get out of her Sony contract binding her to Dr. Luke earlier this year, wasn’t sympathetic.

“Every rape is not a gender-motivated hate crime,” she wrote.

“Although Gottwald’s alleged actions were directed to Kesha, who is female, (her claims) do not allege that Gottwald harbored animus toward women or was motivated by gender animus when he allegedly behaved violently toward Kesha.”

The judge dismissed Kesha’s claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress based on the statute of limitations with respect to the alleged assaults in 2005 and 2008.

And Kornreich, in bluntly cold language, implied the insults allegedly hurled at Kesha over the years weren’t severe enough for the court to act on them.

“Her claims of insults about her value as an artist, her looks and her weight are insufficient to constitute extreme, outrageous conduct intolerable in civilized society,” she wrote.

UGH.

so nobody on ILM cares about Kesha and the Creepies?

the creepies haven't been on my radar
what is kesha and the creepies

her rock band that is touring! http://pitchfork.com/news/66920-kesha-announces-kesha-and-the-creepies-the-fuck-the-world-tour/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5z8flueN6eU

ha! wow, that's cool. i enjoy playing kesha songs, i bet they're really fun to see!!

http://pagesix.com/2016/10/10/kesha-fears-dr-luke-could-leak-her-medical-records/

just when you think this can't get any uglier

really seems luke has no motivation to do that and would open himself up to more liability if they came out

there is no way that would not be a hipaa nightmare

medical records in court are one thing (and permitted under hipaa) but whatever "dissemination" is being discussed here? probably not so much

hipaa, as far as i know, applies to medical staff, not ex-lovers

although leaking documents that are under court seal could definitely run afoul of something

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-Dur3uXXCQ

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2017/jul/06/kesha-rainbow-new-album-playback-interview-praying

New album 'Rainbow' August 11th.

the video is gorgeous. lyrically it's a bit teenage-diary (can't wonder what it'd be like if it were a bit more metaphorical), but her searing vocal is so haunting.

i'm rooting for her & interested to see what the album will be like

yeah i'm rooting for her too

that is quite a long build up for a pop song, but man what a payoff

I don't get this at all. Much as I'm happy for her to be able to release the music she wants (and it's obvious the fact she can actually sing has been hidden) this is a tuneless mess.

The closest precedent I can think of for this is that song where Miley Cyrus screams about her dead dog

what's odd is i woke up with this in my head. obviously it's not meant to be some kind of hyper-catchy radio candy but i guess the tune did grab a hold of my brain.

watched the vid a couple more times and i kinda love it now.

yeah thumbs up from me, i'm with her and it's a good rallying song, even though it's outwardly directed (towards dr. luke obviously) it totally pulls off the thing where the fuck-you isn't just masquerading self-servingly as a personal anthem, it actually feels like a personal anthem that includes, proudly and rightly, notes of fuck-you. if it has a certain diary-ishness i think that works. and yeah, nobody's idea of a killer lead pop single, no, but when it finally kicks in it REALLY kicks in. high note was awesome.

This would have ended up feeling less like an exposed nerve if it had tried to shroud its message in metaphorical lyrics. I think it's absolutely necessary for the reach it has that it was expressed as plainly as possible.

So so excited for this album. I hope every single song is as loud and angry as this one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXyA4MXKIKo

hot take: this fucking rocks

Love it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M5RoaBhlK6o

(Posted that in the gay thread, but I think it left everyone there stun.)

that is hysterical

btw i thought i'd already said this but i really really cringe at my early posts itt, sorry everyone.

"let 'em talk" is unbelievable

this year's eclipse...

where I am at: this is mostly a conceptual triumph, not so much a musical triumph but she's still on sony so it's a miracle it's as good as it is

Omg this is so great

So much to enjoy here. Reminds me a little bit of the s/t Paramore in the way it takes an artist who previously focused on doing one very specific thing really well and shows off the range of other incredible shit they can do, too

yes! i am really impressed by this

this is gr8, title track is so gr8

closing track is kind of astonishing

trust ke$ha to be the first to meld cosmic country with pop country