It is easy to be tricked into a false sense of creative security here in the world of pop music. Music is ephemeral time – a flash of noise glossing over everything that might hinder the art. No one wants to talk about the contract unless you are Kanye, so even the shots of squeezed-out lyrics in Juxtapoz Magazine do little to illuminate your contractual obligations (the thing the contract is actually for). All those pretty pictures, they are framed by contract language.
Think of a gap indemnity agreement as a music production agreement. This is where the spirit of John Cage comes in. John Cage, famous composer and art hero, dug at the concept of silence, looping his records over themselves to make every space of his vinyl feature something interesting. You, the listener, can feel cool because you know what John Cage was saying, and also, because you are now thinking of silence as something important, and you are embarrassed it took you so long to figure it out. Are you embarrassed about how you handled your last musical contract? Why? You were just signing what your accountant put in front of you. After all, it really doesn’t matter what it says as long as the music comes out, right?
Right, except we are not John Cage, we will talk about our contracts, and so does Kanye, and pronto. Kanye West is fast. He signed and released “The Life of Pablo” in one evening. Not much of a gap between signing and release, but that doesn’t matter, because the music industry is rife with “gap indemnities.” In 2014, the FBI found themselves in a musical mode when they released details on how the infamous PKK terrorist group funded their operations through the purchase of counterfeit CDs and DVDs. Instead of cotton, the vein of PKK ran heavy with the new releases of high profile artists. What a “gap” that was! How did PKK get their hands on CDs and DVDs for SoMo – on a Friday-and what effect does it have on our ears when multiple notable releases happen at once and at a high rate of frequency busying our ears in other regions of space?
Think of the gap indemnity agreement as a music production agreement. What are the gaps that make things work out for Kanye and SoMo (1521 Music’s latest signing)? The first impression is enough to sink a ship, right? Wrong. Allowed to speak unencumbered by the dubiously-knocked-out sound of contractual jargon, music speaks highly of the artist; now more than ever the creative process, which embodies the artistic product, is paramount to sales and album success. Everyone is talking about top 40, singles are hitting hard on the radio, the djs are being courtesy to the tweeting fans, and selling is a good thing. So where are the gaps in the legally washed-out release programs that proliferate on-demand software; where legally flushed out investment? The answer requires an example:
We have all eaten a musically over-effervescent pancake. The 2008 debut of Kesha Sebert was more than just a “TiK ToK” on another 16-bar master mix by Dr. Luke; a dish most palatable only to minors within the depths of suburban america. The music industry had closed the gap in an “indemnity agreement,” however troubling: if the lyrics didn’t surface in the media, it didn’t happen. The problem was hiding in the light of day, or, in the release of the “Animal” album, actually. When Kesha Sebert decided to exit her first contract before “Animal 2,” the gap surfaced live and in technicolor: a legal fight ensued where Kesha, coming out from behind the silkscreen of compositional anonymity looped a booming indictment. It was never just about the thawing of the silence between the beat and the sample, it was about the music as a whole.
The “Animal” album inadvertently outpoured the cup of thorns and collected itself against the new light of day. In so doing, it has a lot to say about the gaps in indemnity agreements; as do many successful albums. For more so, 50 Cent has a lot to not say about it, but that’s neither here nor there.
The cancellation of religion, at some point, was a pretty big deal. Dave Chappelle was in on it too. But why is the music industry known for closing the gaps in indemnity? Why is it so important? Gaps in indemnity lead to gems like the Drake track “Ableton Beat 10”, which leaks out of the inner depths of his “Nothing Was The Same” records. What a gap to leak out. And while Kanye and 21 Savage are making millions of dollars in the music industry, a higher earning income than Almost everyone else involved, who should be closing the gaps in indemnity agreements? You? Kanye? 21 Savage? SoMo? Of course, the lists go on. At any moment in time, there will be some leaking happening musically.
Perhaps the best place to begin the search for the answers to these questions before relaying them over to the legal stylings of cakes and pancake connections is this: presumedly, the producer does not know the lyrics of the song. The “gap” is always in the midst of the best strumming of the bass strings: the first few plays of the track are often the most entertaining; the first few listen-throughs of the album, which, if it is truly good, are always a “story.” From there, however, driven by the success or failure of the musical rapport of the featuring process, the album can be relied upon to surround you for weeks on end.
How do we go about protecting the “gaps” in indemnity when making music industry hyper-defined by the same gaps we try to close? How do we proceed when the music disperses into the crowded air-space of business week? How do we mind the gaps?
