*Universal Music Group is demanding the cancellation of its $31 million recorded-music deal signed with the Prince estate in February, and that all money be returned, according to court documents that have recently emerged and were reviewed by Billboard.
The newly-surfaced info was nestled in a letter from estate manager Comerica Bank that was posted Wednesday to a Minnesota website housing legal documents related to the multiple legal matters surrounding Prince’s estate.
The letter has since been removed, but not before Billboard was able to report on the contents. Most notably, the letter confirms the $31 million price tag that had been previously reported through unnamed sources, and that the company is accusing L. Londell McMillan, one of two former special advisors to the estate, of fraudulent inducement.
The Universal pact would have covered much of Prince’s recorded material following the termination of his 19-year-long initial deal with Warner Bros. in 1996.
The announcement said that “beginning [in 2018], UMG will obtain U.S. rights to certain renowned Prince albums released from 1979 to 1995” — the years that he was signed to Warner Bros. and released his most iconic albums, including “1999,” “Purple Rain,” “Parade” and “Diamonds and Pearls.” However, Prince had cut a new deal with Warner in 2014 that sources said gave him the rights to the majority of his work released on the label (albeit with certain key exceptions).
Universal’s court action claims that the rights to Prince’s Warner Bros. music were misrepresented and will not be available for several more years.
McMillan and his fellow former adviser, Charles Koppelman, were replaced in April by Spotify’s head of creative services, Troy Carter.
Below are additional wrinkles adding to the confusion, via Variety:
Further complicating matters is the fact that McMillan represents three of the estate’s six presumptive heirs. In a court hearing outside Minneapolis on Wednesday (May 10), judge Kevin Eide took four issues under advisement, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune: one involving the six siblings’ requests to be officially named his lawful heirs, another involving a claim over a consulting contract by Prince’s niece Brianna Nelson, and two involving McMillan. The three heirs represented by McMillan are seeking for him to have access to details of a $2 million licensing deal. However, Comerica Bank, which manages the estate, is looking into claims surrounding McMillan’s handling of a troubled Prince tribute concert in October.
Omarr Baker, one of Prince’s siblings who was previously represented by McMillan but has since split with him, has subpoenaed documents about McMillan’s business deals surrounding the estate. McMillan has sought to quash the subpoena, a matter Eide is also taking under advisement.
In an exchange of strongly worded memos over the past few weeks, the three heirs have also claimed, among other matters, that McMillan’s status as a representative of heirs and a special adviser to the estate was a conflict of interest; McMillan has denied any wrongdoing.
Sources tell Billboard there is a hearing scheduled later this month regarding UMG’s demand that the deal be rescinded.
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