For many aspiring artists, music reality television shows are the most golden of opportunities that fast-track careers and propel musicians into immediate superstardom, one only needs to look at the breadth of programs such as The Voice, X Factor, and of course, Idol.
That is until Phillip Phillips, a winner of American Idol, recently hit-out against the television program’s producers 19 Entertainment, slamming them as “oppressive” and “fatally conflicted” believing that they are in fact damaging his creative future, which suggests that winning a musical talent show isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.
This news broke last week when Phillips released an official petition filing against the alleged restrictive nature of his contract that was awarded to him as the major prize for winning American Idol back on May 23, 2012, notably American Idol’s 11th season, as The Hollywood Reporter highlights.
The petition reveals some rather shocking facts of Phillips’ contract with 19 Entertainment, the Idol winner believing he has little to no creative control on a large faction of his recording career.
Phillips’ petition claims that 19 Entertainment have continually withheld information on his intellectual property and marketing matters relating to his records – for example, the title of Phillips’ most recent album was decided without his approval, and then was announced in press without Phillips being given any notice in advanced.
In addition to this, Phillips claims to not have been informed of agreements made by 19 Entertainment confirming his live appearance on various television shows such as Letterman and Ellen to The Today Show and various music award shows in the US.
It doesn’t end there, with Phillips alleging that he has been cheated financially by 19 Entertainment.
The petition tells of an example where Phillips was forced to perform a corporate event for an insurance company, which was instead labelled by 19 Entertainment as an “endorsement deal”, which meant that under the his contract’s Merchandise Agreement, 19 Entertainment were able to take a whopping 40% percent commission for his performance.
Phillips closes his petition by penning that he is grateful for the opportunity from American Idol, “The value that the fans and the show have given to my career is not lost on me. However, I have not felt that I have been free to conduct my career in a way that I am comfortable with. I look forward to being able to make my own choices about my career and to being able to make great music and play it for my fans” he pens.
A spokesperson for 19 Entertainment has since spoken to the The Hollywood Reporter on the messy case, stating, “We’re very proud of everything we’ve accomplished together with Phillip, working closely to help nurture his extraordinary talent and advance his career. We have always acted in the best interest of Phillip. We will vigorously defend ourselves from any baseless claims to the contrary and from any attempt to interfere with our rights and relationships.”
Phillips’ aim with the current petition is to at the very least renegotiate the agreements with his current contract in hopes to take hold of his future creative output.
Although to some people these gripes may seem like rather trivial issues considering the mass amount of publicity Phillips has and will continue to receive courtesy of American Idol/19 Entertainment, it is an interesting case to be heard, and does cast a negative light on the artist versus management agreement parameters.
You can view Phillip Phillip’s full petition against 19 Entertainment here.
