Paying It Forward

Over the past eight years, the NBA's MILWAUKEE BUCKS have paid their superstar power forward, GIANNIS ANTETOKOUNMPO, $108 million. They've spent millions more in overhead to coach him and train him—to, essentially, develop his talent and turn him into the player they thought he could be when they gambled on the untested teenager in 2013. That hefty investment has paid off handsomely for everyone involved. He's their BILLIE EILISH, or their ADELE—the teenage signing that made up for all the others that didn't pan out. And that's where this basketball and pop music analogy ends, because in exchange for that investment, the Milwaukee Bucks got nothing more, and nothing less, than those eight years of service. If Giannis and the team hadn't agreed to a whopping $228 million deal in December, which will keep him around for five more years, he could have walked away this summer and left the team with nothing—no royalties on future earnings, no continued sales of 2019-20 season tickets and t-shirts, no copyrights, no unstoppable drives to the basket that the team could repackage and reissue when it needs a few more wins in 2023. Nope—if he left (and he had other chances to leave several years earlier), the door would have closed behind him and the team would've had to start over with someone else. That's why the Bucks forked over $228 million. If they wanted to continue benefiting from his work, they had no other choice.

Record companies, by contrast, are generally guaranteed more time upfront with their signees, in whom they invest significantly less money. And if their stars ever do walk away, they don't get to take their old work with them. The labels get to keep profiting long after they're gone—their reward, they'll tell anyone who asks, for however much money did invest. Which will fall way short of $108 million.

If you're reading this, I know you know all of this. But does it seem fair? Does it make sense? Are the old arguments still good arguments?

Should pop singer/songwriter RAYE, signed to POLYDOR seven years ago when she was 16, shut up and sing? Or—as she more or less accused the label of making her do in a tweetstorm this week—shut up and not sing ("I have been on a 4 ALBUM RECORD DEAL since 2014 !!! And haven’t been allowed to put out one album")? Should indie label SECRETLY CANADIAN get to own alt-pop singer SHURA's album FOREVHER for, well, ever, as Shura implied in her own tweets in support of Raye? Polydor said Wednesday, "We were saddened to read Raye’s tweets last night and have reached out to her management team to discuss and offer our full support." No public response from Secretly Canadian yet. Lots of response from other artists offering their support to Raye, some even offering strategies for breaking her contract.

Is an artist revolt at hand? With more and more options becoming available for working outside the label system, from investment startups to mature artist-services companies, where is the leverage? What are the incentives? What would you do if you were managing a teen pop artist right now? What would you do if you were a label trying to sign her? Should Raye and Shura and Billie Eilish get to be free agents one day soon? When? How soon is then?

Britney's Father' Day

As I noted in this space recently, most of us aren't privy to the details of what's being discussed behind closed doors in the BRITNEY SPEARS conservatorship case (the Los Angeles County court system took new steps Wednesday to make sure it stays that way). Nor do we know everything going on behind the closed doors of her personal and business lives. But still: Huh.

It should be noted that the ruling made public Wednesday wasn't in response to Britney's explosive testimony this week in which she asked to have her conservatorship terminated altogether. And it wasn't the most consequential or shocking celebrity court decision handed down Wednesday, obviously. But a surprise nonetheless, and another reminder that public opinion and judicial opinion don't always align so neatly.

Nobody Beats the Biz

Sending love. (And reminding well-meaning fans to be mindful of their social media sources.)

Rest in Peace

Idaho honky-tonk singer/songwriter PINTO BENNETT... Drummer DAVID GAMBLE, who was one-half of the Athens, Ga., post-punk band the METHOD ACTORS.