Some readers were surprised to learn back in May of the financial situation in which the members of Tame Impala, arguably one of Australia’s most successful bands, find themselves. According to frontman Kevin Parker, he hasn’t made a cent from the band’s overseas record sales.
Speaking during a Reddit AMA, Parker, who writes almost all of Tame Impala’s material, revealed that he had received “zero dollars” from all of Tame Impala’s record sales “outside of Australia”, adding, “Someone high up spent the money before it got to me”.
However, it now appears that this wasn’t simply the result of some obscure legal clause hidden in Parker’s contract. In fact, as The Australian reports, Parker’s publisher, BMG, is suing the head of Tame Impala’s former label, Modular Recordings.
According to The Australian, the German publishing giant is suing industry impresario Steve “Pav” Pavlovic, along with the label he founded and its co-owner, Universal Music, in a New York court for unpaid Tame Impala royalties totalling $US450,000 (AUD$588,150).
While BMG actually owns the rights to Tame Impala’s songs via a publishing agreement with Parker, Modular was given a “mechanical license” to the songs in March last year on the condition that the label would pay royalties within 45 days of the end of each quarter.
BMG is alleging that this never happened. In fact, not only did Modular allegedly withhold considerable royalty sums from BMG, they’re accused of ignoring a cease and desist order instructing them to refrain from selling anymore of Tame Impala’s material.
As The Australian notes, ahead of being served with papers filed with the New York Southern District Court last month, BMG sent an angry letter to Modular in February, demanding they “immediately cease, desist and refrain from any further violation” of BMG’s rights.
Modular allegedly ignored the letter and continued to sell Tame Impala’s recordings, including their self-titled EP and the albums Innerspeaker and Lonerism. Modular is yet to file a defence against BMG’s claims.
While on the surface it would appear that Parker stands to finally see some remuneration for the sale of Tame Impala’s records, Modular is hardly a profit machine these days, despite once commanding a roster of popular artists, including The Presets and Cut Copy.
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As The Music notes, all of their one-signed artists have since jumped ship, with Tame Impala now working directly with UMA, Pond signing on with EMI, Grace moving to Liberation, Architecture In Helsinki unveiling their latest album via Inertia imprint Casual Workout, and Wolfmother going completely independent.
Meanwhile, Modular, which is co-run by Pavlovic and Universal Australia head George Ash, has accumulated losses of $9.3 million and liabilities of $8.89 million, against assets totalling just $5,565. The suit would be enough to wipe out Modular’s 2014 profits of $436,000.
It’s not the first setback for Pavlovic, whose For music festival, which he hosts on the Croation island of Hvar, has been postponed until September. The mogul first hit the big time in 1992, when he brought Nirvana to Australia right as they became mega-stars.
However, failed business ventures followed, including the collapse of two touring companies. Despite this, Pavlovic has proven to be remarkably resilient, curating Sydney’s Vivid Festival in 2011 and the Modulations side-event last year. However, it remains to be seen if he’ll be able to bounce back so easily this time.
