Kanye West is back posting a long thread of tweets after Twitter suspended his account for 12 hours last week. A day after saying he would help Taylor Swift retrieve her masters from Scooter Braun, West shared his "recording and publishing deal guidelines" that could protect the interest of all musicians.
The Jesus is King singer stressed that every artist should be treated fairly in the industry. Hence, he is suggesting new guidelines which were mainly about ownership of songs and recordings, and profit-sharing.
Kanye said artists should own the copyright of their songs and recordings. He said it should only lease to the record label or publisher for a limited-term, suggesting that a one-year deal is sufficient.
West maintained that labels and publishers are mere "service providers" and therefore, should receive a small share from the profit and on a limited time. Kanye suggested an 80/20 profit sharing, in favor of the artist.
The presidential hopeful also took an issue on how the contracts of artists were written. Kanye said it should be more easily understood so an artist doesn't need a lawyer to interpret the content of the contract. He said artists should not dependent on no one but themselves in managing their business.
Kim Kardashian's husband likewise discouraged artists from taking "advances." According to Kanye, these are loans with at least 75 percent interest. He said record labels should be the ones "buying" on artists and not giving loans to them.
Kanye West is also calling for the end of blanket licenses. He said the artist should get a share in every deal that the label made out of their song. West added artists deserve equity in the companies they are signed in, and their songs should serve as their stock.
The Life of Pablo hitmaker is advocating the creation of portals for artists as well. According to Kanye, this would serve as a one-stop-shop for all of their songs, deals, royalties, assets, and more.
In the end, Kanye called for all artists to unite for his cause as he vowed to get his masters from Universal Music Group. He stressed that every artist must be treated fairly.
The "Famous" rapper earlier announced that he wouldn't be releasing new music until his contract with UMG and Sony's parent company, EMI, ended. The rapper sued both companies last year, seeking to let him out of his contract. The lawsuit was settled in October.
