“‘You write these massive songs and you see the whole world dancing to them and celebrating to them, and you’re broke”

In a video released on 19 February, Grammy-winning songwriter Tiffany Red laid out yet another challenge facing independent music creators today. During the 15 minute piece, she described how the huge power imbalance between songwriters and some larger artists or publishers can easily result in contracts that erode the creators’ rights to own the entirety of their work.

This isn’t a new issue but it’s relatively rare to hear a songwriter speaking out so candidly on the topic.

#Beyonce amongst other Artists are being accused of stealing publishings on songs they didn’t write. I believe every single word #TiffanyRed said.

When #Kelis was saying this very same thing about Beyonce stealing her samples for ENERGY on Renaissance, she was attacked on… pic.twitter.com/ncZS24S37M

— Light Bearer (@LightBearer1984) February 19, 2024

PS: Hat tip to Chris Castle at Artists Rights Watch whose article on this story adds some fascinating additional context.