Universal Follows Sony and Warner in Waiving Unrecouped Advances for Some Legacy Artists

Universal Music Group has followed Sony Music and Warner in announcing a program for certain legacy artists to receive royalties without having recouped their advance payments, Billboard reports. Unveiling the plan in its environmental, social and governance report yesterday (March 31), Universal, the world’s largest music company, became the last of the big three label groups to propose such a scheme. Eligible artists will receive royalties backdated to the start of 2022, but Universal did not explain who would qualify or why. 

Beggars Group kick-started the trend in 2020, aiming to correct old-fashioned label deals, particularly with Black artists, which locked signees into exploitative contracts with low royalty rates. Back in 2001, UMG launched a similar scheme on a smaller scale through its Motown/Universal Music Group Fund, which gave health and welfare grants to artists and their spouses with a UMG royalty account, as long as Universal exclusively owned the relevant label.