John Washington III Tells Spotify No: American King Records Will Not Give Away Its Masters

John Washington III is drawing a line over his record label's music. As the owner of American King Records, John Washington III wrote that he has a serious problem with streaming platforms attempting to negotiate deals that allow other people to remix artists' music. "MY ANSWER IS NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT!" he wrote.

John Washington III argued that a platform's role has limits. "Spotify is a streaming platform. SPOTIFY IS NOT MY RECORD COMPANY!" he wrote, saying he did not build his label, invest his money, develop his artists and create his catalog so a streaming platform could negotiate how other people use the label's master recordings.

If another artist wants to remix, sample or commercially use one of the label's master recordings, John Washington III said, there is a proper way to do business: "YOU COME TO THE RECORD COMPANY!" A licensing agreement, he wrote, means negotiating the upfront payment, royalties, ownership and terms of use with American King Records.

John Washington III said he is not interested in handing over control of the label's master recordings in exchange for an undisclosed streaming royalty that might amount to fractions of a penny. Artists and independent labels, he argued, should treat their music as an asset: "YOUR MUSIC IS AN ASSET. YOUR MASTER RECORDINGS ARE PROPERTY. YOUR RIGHTS HAVE VALUE!" His position, as he stated it, allows no unauthorized remixes and no third-party licensing of the label's masters without the label's approval. "OUR MUSIC. OUR MASTERS. OUR RIGHTS. OUR DECISION," he wrote.