Morgan Wallen, country artist, just recently won 11 Billboard Music awards while currently on his One Night at a Time tour.
His fame has grown tremendously since 2015 when Wallen’s five-star Stand Alone EP was released. This past month marked the 10th year anniversary of the recording of Stand Alone. The colleagues who helped Wallen release this album have eight unheard songs they now plan to distribute without Wallen’s permission.
“People think when they get a record deal that they’re set for life, nothing could be further from the truth. You just really won’t believe how they exploit people,” said Stuart “Dirge Factor” Darrel, music producer.
Wallen spoke out to fans through his social media explaining this was not his wish. He deemed those eight songs not good enough for his fans and continued on about the “dark side of the music business.”
Here is a link to Wallen’s full message through his Instagram.
“There are very powerful people in the music industry, and nine times out of 10, the artist or band is screwed,” said Darrel.
There are many other artists who have signed bad contract deals, including Taylor Swift. However, the scandals can bring more popularity to the artists and promote their platform in a new light.
“I think an artist should be able to have a say in anything they perform and love to release for their fans. I agree with him when he says it is gross, greedy and dark. If I were an artist I would and should be the only one to have a say in what gets released of mine,” said Libbey Laprise, Wallen fan since 2014.
To counteract the unwanted release, Wallen put out a newer version of his hit song “Spin You Around,” from the original Stand Alone EP. Wallen also went another step further and donated $100,000 to Volunteer Lawyers & Professionals for the Arts program.
The entire situation is tough but the contract Wallen signed will hopefully teach other artists to not agree to deals they can later be held to.
Laprise said, “His true fans are going to support him no matter what. If I were to guess, some people might not agree with the song choices and not care enough to read his explanation.”
