Kanye West has put together a team of veteran lawyers and executives to help revolutionize the music business. In an interview with Billboard, the music and fashion icon said, “The desired effect will only be achieved when every artist owns their masters. I’m Team ‘Free Artists.’ I’m committed to doing whatever is necessary so artists own their own copyrights.”
He continued, “The response is awesome because everyone knows this is a broken system that needs to be fixed. Currently, artists take advances to make records and yet when they repay those advances the record company still owns the records. Imagine a bank lending you money to buy a house and then when you’ve repaid that mortgage, them telling you they still own it. (Music lawyer) Joel Katz showed up; (Hipgnosis Songs Fund founder) Merck Mercuriadis showed up; Steve Rifkind showed up. I’ve put together a group of advisors to get me the information I need to succeed on behalf of all artists.”
When asked how he plans to win Taylor Swift's masters back from her former label Big Machine, West said, “All artists need to be free and own their rights. Taylor Swift deserves that, just like everyone else. As I mentioned before, (label boss) Scooter Braun is a friend and we’ll be having that discussion.”
