In a recent extensive social media post, Jamaican songstress Etana made serious allegations of sabotage and unethical business practices against VP Records and its affiliate, Greensleeves Records. These accusations come in the wake of a dispute surrounding the upload of her song “Mirror” on Spotify by Kemar ‘Flava’ McGregor, who is also currently entangled in a legal battle with the record label.
Etana alleges that Spotify had to create a new page for her song because they couldn’t initially locate her as the artist. At first, she considered this an inadvertent mistake, but investigations by her team suggested otherwise, pointing to a deliberate manoeuvre by the label. Additionally, she noted that her album “I Rise” was conspicuously absent from Spotify’s catalogue. Strangely, her subscription to the streaming service experienced a significant drop when Spotify announced its availability in Jamaica, falling to less than half the original amount.
Another point of contention Etana raised was the alteration of the ISRC Code for her “Stronger” album by VP Records. She asserted that this change was made to reset the numbers, hindering her team from accurately measuring the album’s streams. In her video, she delves into several other contentious matters; watch the full video below.
The legal battle between Etana and VP Records has been ongoing, with a New York judge recently dismissing nine of the fourteen claims in her breach of contract and copyright infringement lawsuit against the label. However, the judge granted her two weeks to amend her complaint. The core of the dispute revolves around four contracts, including a recording agreement and a songwriter agreement with VP and Greensleeves Publishing Ltd (GPL), respectively. Etana and her company, Free Mind Music LLC, allege that VP and GPL breached these agreements by failing to pay royalties and other owed monies.
Against this backdrop of legal strife, the ongoing interaction between Etana and VP Records has captured the attention and commentary of fans and the music industry at large. The situation remains a subject of keen interest and scrutiny as it unfolds.
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