In the four days since Morgan Wallen was captured on camera saying racial slur, the blowback from the country music industry has been sweeping. He was exiled from country radio, the big talent agency WME left him as a client, and his contract with the label – a partnership between Big Loud and Republic Records – was suspended indefinitely.
The development of the label, which puts Wallen’s most important commercial contract in limbo, is the most curious – and ambiguous. Several lawyers, executives and industry experts, many of whom spoke on condition of anonymity, say Rolling Stone This one until Big Loud and Republic take a decisive stand on what their next steps are, it is not clear how significant (or superficial) Wallen’s suspension really is.
“The suspension itself really does nothing,” says Karl Fowlkes, a lawyer in the music industry and a professor at Drexel University and Rowan University. “The suspension issue is very irregular and I think it is a cognitive choice of words that allows them more flexibility to extend the contract. Even between projects and album releases, there is never a rush to meet any schedule that is in those contracts. Since there is never a sense of urgency in this, simply archiving an artist is a public relations response. “
A prominent music industry manager initially agreed with Fowlkes’ assessment when he learned of the suspension. But they say the move allows Big Loud to protect its investment for now.
“My first opinion was, ‘This is very toothless’, but I don’t think there should be an expectation that a company that has invested all that time and money [into an artist] I should have to drop it, ”says the manager. “There are a lot of sports teams that would say, ‘Look, you are not going to play, but we are not going to release you so you can play for someone else.’”
Another industry lawyer who has worked with several major clients, however, remains skeptical about the significance of the suspension. “I can’t imagine that an indefinite suspension is anything other than the need for the stamp to issue a statement for public relations purposes,” he says. “TThis is much less serious than Marilyn Manson’s the other day. [Wallen] had a night of drinking where he used the ‘n-word’. Unfortunately, we still live in a country where the country music market will forgive this more than once. “
Without reviewing Wallen’s contract, it is difficult to define what his specific suspension actually involves, unless the record company postpones its obligations to an artist. This could mean disrupting marketing budgets for Wallen’s work; restrain advances in their projects; and even suspending payment of Wallen’s royalties. Wallen wrote more than half of the 30 songs on his current album, number one for several weeks Dangerous: the double album.
Several lawyers contacted by Rolling Stone note that suspension was more common in recording contracts with decades of existence, along with “moral clauses”, which gave record companies the right to suspend their obligations to the artist if they broke with an established set of values. These have become more rare as contracts have become more friendly for artists, but they are not unheard of in country record contracts, particularly for younger clients. “As the artists gained strength, these clauses practically disappeared,” said longtime lawyer Peter Paterno, by email. It is unclear whether Wallen’s contract included this morality clause – and as other executives say Rolling Stone, it is not clear whether his declaration of racial injury would justify its use.
“[Wallen] had a night of drinking where he used the ‘n-word’. Unfortunately, we still live in a country where the country music market will forgive more than once, ”said a lawyer.
While none of the potential label actions detailed above are necessarily weightless, they have little meaning in the long run. Big Loud did not permanently remove Wallen from his list – although his name and image have been removed from the label’s website – nor can the label lose money on Wallen’s previously released songs, since Iong as the songs remain available for streaming and purchase. (On Saturday, Big Loud did not remove any of Wallen’s music from streaming services.) Since the controversy began, Wallen’s radio spins have fallen dramatically, but his digital music sales have increased by about 327%, and sales of his albums soared 1,220%. “The fans are not moving away from him; if anything, they are leaning, ”said a source.
Almost every source who spoke for this article said that anything except using the proceeds from the post-scandal increase in Wallen to sustain other diverse voices – or to cut profits entirely – would undermine the suspension. “If they raise a penny from this increase, it will be bad,” says Rick Daniels, program director for Indiana’s WKKG country station.
“What are you suspending?” Fowlkes asks. “What does it mean if you are still making money from this artist? If they suspend his term, they will give him more money in a year or two … without forcing any change, spending money on him or receiving money, is allowing for racist behavior and the comments that have emerged. “
Neither Big Loud nor the Republic responded to several requests for Rolling Stone to specify the details behind Wallen’s suspension and what actions in addition to the announcement the two record companies plan, including their revenue intentions. Several sources criticized the Republic in particular, which has yet to issue a statement on the controversy beyond reposting Big Loud suspension announcement.
“If you are Coca-Cola and have been profiting from the goodwill of the American people for a century, when a spokesperson does something wrong, you sever ties with him,” says the artist’s manager. “They do not affect your financial results. Nobody expects Big Loud to make a statement, in my opinion. They’re just a few guys who started a record company outside their office. At the very least, I think the Republic should have said, ‘This is not what we signed’, and they make a public display of it. “
Fowlkes, who is black, is concerned that record companies’ actions are similar to events like Blackout Tuesday, which he said was well-intentioned but lacked the nuances needed to effect the change.
“There were a lot of hurried antics in the music industry in 2020 and 2021. The responses to social injustice, many of them were actions overnight, and months later, here we are and no one seems to be talking about it,” Fowlkes says. “They could have made a more transparent statement saying that they were investigating the matter and sent a more specific plan on what was going to happen until we saw changes in behavior. To me, this seems like an easy thing to do. Usually, this has been a scam tactic to take some time and come back in a year, when most people will not remember it. “
“What are you suspending? What does it mean if you are still making money from this artist? ”- Music industry lawyer Karl Fowlkes
Another prominent black music executive who focuses on racial equity in the industry acknowledges that the suspension seems empty, but applauds the industry’s decisive actions in general, which historically have been slow to act, if that.
“In the past, there should have been an uproar for days, when people on the internet and in interviews talked about how something was wrong before an action happened,” says the executive. “It remains to be seen what ‘indefinite suspension’ means and what is real. It remains to be seen whether the industry will take this seriously and say that it will not enter into contracts with people who have these values in the first place. I want to believe that people are willing to do more than just perform. “
Fowlkes and the executive agree that Big Loud and Republic need not necessarily dismiss Wallen to take meaningful action. Instead, they can allocate resources and funding to artists who may not have the same resources that Wallen – or other white artists – received. They can also ensure that their fallen country star realizes their ignorance and works to fix it, before it is brought back into the fold.
Another manager in Nashville who spoke with Rolling Stone says that we may never know what the suspension really means for Wallen or the record company. But, in their opinion, this marks a definitive end point. “‘Suspended indefinitely’ is a slap in the face for all the artists in this city who have been discarded for less,” they say. “If you look at Morgan Wallen from the perspective of what country music has always wanted to achieve and the way it set out to achieve it, it is the perfect conclusion for the bro-country era and all the ethos that was established to support it it. “
“They created this monster, this monster was launched into the world, but they don’t want to let the monster go,” adds the manager, “because the monster is still going to give them money.”
Additional reporting by Joseph Hudak