THE LIL WAYNE PLOT: MASTERS SELL, FEDERAL GUN CHARGE, TRUMP CONSPIRACY [OPEN THREAD]
When I heard the news that Lil Wayne sold his masters to Universal Music Group, my initial reaction was: Good for him.
The news broke a few days ago – following the news that the legendary songwriter Bob Dylan had done the same for an undisclosed amount of money (reports are more than $200 million, around $300 million).
I honestly didn’t know that Wayne owned his masters. I thought Birdman, AKA Baby, AKA put some RESPECK on my name, had Wayne’s music tied up for life. Now it’s being reported that Wayne sold his masters in June and the news is becoming public due to a $20 million lawsuit by his former manager.
The masters’ deal produced a lot of “hot takes” about the value of owning your own music. My question is: Why does an artist want to own their music? To make the best decisions to properly profit off their work, right? If you’re Wayne and you think $100 million is equivalent to what you want for your music, good for him, right?
The real question is: Is Wayne’s music catalog worth $100 million?
This morning, my perspective on the deal changed. The breaking news of Wayne’s arrest and guilty plea on a federal gun charge changes the landscape. Everything makes more sense. The report: Wayne was arrested in December on another federal gun charge (stemming from a tip – really, an anonymous tip). He pleaded guilty yesterday. Wayne now faces up to 10 years in federal prison. He is currently out on a $250,000 bond. This is devastating news for the former stand-out Cash Money Millionaire.
I speculate that Wayne saw the writing on the wall and it looked bad. Let’s not forget that Wayne can’t tour or even do one-off mega-show appearances during the pandemic. I’m sure the past 12 months have presented a revenue challenge, if not a complete financial challenge for him. A masters’ deal may have been his best option to grab a ton of money before the court determines his fate in January 2021.
This may also explain his illogical decision to support Trump right before the election. After all, Trump can pardon Wayne right now.
This is an open thread for comments. Let me know what you think. #WESEEIT
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I would think that the value of a catalog is as quantifiable now as it’s ever been and that if his catalog fetched $100 m it’s less a debate of the actual worth (i.e., the market has spoken) and maybe more a question of the market’s tastes (i.e., how Sway?)