Bangladesh Says No Royalties Paid For “A Milli”
In The World Of Beat Placements, You Don’t Always Get Paid
| By AMIR SAID (SA’ID) |
In this video, Bangladesh speaks frankly about not being paid royalties for “A Milli.” “A Milli,” from Lil Wayne’s 2008 hit album, The Carter III, won a Grammy award for Best Rap Solo Performance at the 51st Grammy Awards; and the The Carter III has sold nearly 3 million copies to date. Yet according to beatmaker/producer Bangladesh, he hasn’t received any royalty payments for his credited production work.
Appearing clearly frustrated by the situation, Bangladesh directly cites Cash Money Records’ Co-Founder/CEO Birdman as the cause for not receiving royalty payments. Bangladesh doesn’t hide his disappointment with the matter, giving a brief overview of how and when royalty payments should normally be paid.
Bangladesh’s story is a cautionary tell about the world of beat placements. Although many beatmakers covet placements with named recording artists, most are unaware of the not-so little-known secret that payments for beats often come slow, if at all. And even though Cash Money Records may not represent how all labels handle royalty payments for beatmakers (producers), Cash Money’s alleged non-payment to Bangladesh (and similar situation with Manny Fresh) should, however, be considered as something common in the obscure world of beat placements.
For educational purposes…
On Birdman & Lil Wayne Not Paying Him Royalties For A Milli! (via www.SuckerFreeTV.com)
People need to understand that a beatmaker is not automatically a producer. There is a huge difference. A beatmaker is responsible solely for creating the instrumental beat while the producer sees the entire song or project through directing the creative vision of the song fron start to finish. The producer takes on far more responsibilities than just making the beat. They are actually in the studio with the artist guiding them as they record and handling studio, equipment, and other arrangements for the artist. Producers, therefore, have more leverage than beatmakers. In this case, Bangladesh was probably the beatmaker selling his beat to Birdman, Lil Wayne who then produced the actual song.
vbabygirl,
Thanks for your comment…
I can assure you that I’m well-versed in the difference between a beatmaker and the traditional meaning of a “producer”; I wrote about it extensively in my book, ‘The BeatTips Manual.’, and I’ve discussed the issue numerous times in The BeatTips Community (the forums) and other places.
But what Bangladesh is speaking about here has nothing to do with the question of the role of a producer, or the misunderstanding of a beatmaker. No! This is not about a beat sale, this is about not being paid publishing royalties for the music instrumental created (written) by Bangladesh. It has nothing to do with what Lil Wayne did or didn’t do with the actual song. Bangladesh provided the instrumental music for the song. In publishing, the song has two parts to it: The music (instrumental) and the lyrics (words). As the maker of the beat—the maker/writer of the instrumental music—Bangladesh is entitled to his publishing—his royalties! Now, if he signed his publishing rights away, then that’s another story.
—Sa’id