T.I. Sues Cinq Music, Claiming Label Inflated Resale Price for Master Recordings

T.I. has filed a lawsuit against prominent record label Cinq Music. The Atlanta icon claims that upon the label purchasing a large portion of his catalog back in 2017, the deal allowed him to buyback his masters at a cheaper rate after several years. According to the suit, Cinq is not honoring the agreed upon price of resale.

Background:

• Cinq purchased T.I.’s catalog that was under ownership of Atlantic Records.

• The sale included prominent albums such as King, T.I. vs. TIP (2007) and Paper Trail (2008).

• T.I., real name Clifford Joseph Harris, says he accepted the deal specifically because he would be allowed to repurchase the masters personally.

What’s happening:

• Harris’s suit contends that Cinq is demanding $52 million.

• The original deal reportedly set a maximum price of $3 million.

• Atlantic Records is not mentioned in the lawsuit at all.

• The final price was to be determined by the following formula:

• "Cinq’s gross receipts from May 2023 to April 2024, minus any royalty compensation owed to T.I. and his company, multiplied by 12."

• This formula notably excludes streaming revenue.

• Such a formula would clearly lead to a relatively low price, and Harris’s lawyers are claiming Cinq is manipulating the numbers because they regret the terms.

What they said:

• Harris’s legal team: “Using these tactics Cinq sought to extract a purchase price from plaintiffs that was nearly 20 times higher than the price mandated by the parties’ agreed-upon formula.”

• Continuing: “Because it was common knowledge when the parties entered into the Cinq agreement in 2017 that audio streaming and video streaming via the DSPs had become the main driver of music industry growth and revenues, Cinq had ample reason to know then that the [streaming] exclusion would have a significant impact on the [price].”