Johnnie Taylor and the fight for royalties

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11-03-2021, 12:22 PM
luke

Johnnie Taylor and the fight for royalties

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/m...s-1241773/amp/
11-03-2021, 01:00 PM
motony

Thanks for the link, very interesting.
11-03-2021, 01:14 PM
sansradio

What a read. Same pitiful song when it comes to heritage r&b acts. At least the heirs got a small bit of victory in this case. Thanks for sharing.
11-03-2021, 02:12 PM
ysl

Thanks for sharing :)
11-03-2021, 03:13 PM
Motown Eddie

Very interesting story about Johnnie Taylor and his royalties. Given all the rip-off stories that we've all heard about favorite recording artists, I'm not surprised that the Taylor Family isn't happy with the money that they did receive from Sony Music.
11-03-2021, 03:53 PM
motony

I would think they would get more from the Stax stuff, which would be whoever bought Gulf/Western....would it be CBS?
11-03-2021, 03:59 PM
reese

Quote:

Originally Posted by motony

I would think they would get more from the Stax stuff, which would be whoever bought Gulf/Western....would it be CBS?

I think Concord now owns the Stax catalog [post 1968].
11-04-2021, 05:01 PM
motony

I would think the Stax material would generate the most royaties, Although "Disco Lady" was such a MASSIVE HIT but I never remember any other his CBS records.Glad his daughter was persistent.
11-04-2021, 07:41 PM
reese

Quote:

Originally Posted by motony

I would think the Stax material would generate the most royaties, Although "Disco Lady" was such a MASSIVE HIT but I never remember any other his CBS records.Glad his daughter was persistent.

I would agree. DISCO LADY was definitely his biggest hit. But afterwards, he went on to have a few more hits on the soul chart but nothing like the success he had on Stax.

Similar to what happened to the Staples when they left Stax. They went on to have a massive hit with LET'S DO IT AGAIN but after that, not too much.
11-05-2021, 11:29 AM
Motown Eddie

Quote:

Originally Posted by reese

I think Concord now owns the Stax catalog [post 1968].

Yes; Concord Music, formerly Fantasy Records, owns the post 1968 Stax Records catalog [this was the era of Johnnie Taylor's peak popularity between 1968 thru 1974].
11-06-2021, 09:03 AM
kenneth

Really interesting and informative article. What a quagmire the issue of royalties is! No wonder the heirs have trouble navigating those murky waters. It’s designed to be entirely in favor of the record company.

As to the specific Taylor contract, it might be true that even though he had more hits in his early days, he was a bigger name when he was signed to CBS and might’ve had a much greater share of royalties contractually from any releases than he did while on the Stax label. I don’t know, I’m just speculating. But certainly he was a hotter act when he negotiated the contract with a major label with a lot more access to distribution in their releases, which I think is what ultimately led to the downfall of the Stax label.