US band Limp Bizkit has filed a lawsuit against the world’s largest record label, Universal Music Group (UMG).
Known for the frenzied nu-metal at the turn of the millennium Limp Bizkit, who are led by frontman Fred Durst, allege that the music corporation purposefully withheld royalty payments from them which total $200m (£153m).
Filed in California on October 8, the documents claim that UMG used a system “deliberately designed to conceal artists’ (including Plaintiffs’) royalties” to keep the money itself.
Music royalties refer to payments that are made to recording artists, songwriters and the rights holders of a song when it is played, performed or reproduced.
The lawsuit says that UMG – whose talent roster includes stars Taylor Swift, Jay Z, Billie Eilish and Lady Gaga – didn’t pay the band “a single cent” of royalties until they began legal action.
Limp Bizkit claim that they’ve had a “tremendous” resurgence in popularity over the past few years, with their streaming numbers on platforms like Spotify reaching the millions.
According to the lawsuit, Durst claims he was told by UMG he had not received any royalty statements because his account was too far from recoupment, with executives at the firm suggesting it had paid Limp Bizkit around $43m in advances over their musical career.
When representatives of Durst and Limp Bizkit gained access to UMG’s portal for royalty statements in April, however, they claim to have noticed balances that indicated it owed more than $1m.
In August, UMG paid more than $1m to Limp Bizkit and $2.3m to Flawless Records, according to the lawsuit, which says executives blamed the failure to pay sooner on a software error.
The documents also suggest the band aren’t the only musical artists who feel they have been short changed by the label. A pre-trial discovery process will “show that potentially hundreds of other artists have likewise been wrongfully defrauded regarding their royalties”, the band’s attorneys argue.
Speaking to The Guardian, Jay Gilbert, a former executive at the corporation, says that the accusations are “massive”, although he believes that the lack of payments made is unlikely due to a “systematic scheme”. “It’s more of an accounting issue that’s blown up,” he suggested. “It sounded pretty damning and pretty heavy-handed but, in my experience, I think it’s something less dramatic.”
In addition to their music – which spans seven studio albums – receiving an increasing number of streams in recent years, the band played their largest UK show at London’s Gunnersbury Park last August.
The Standard has contacted UMG for comment.
