“With the inability to tour, the pandemic has put a spotlight on a number of structural inequities that deprive a great many recording artists the opportunity to earn even a basic living. This bill is a good start to modernizing our industry, which currently lags behind most other areas of entertainment.”

- Jordan Berliant, Partner/Revelation Management Group

“Seven years is long enough to be in a recording agreement. Especially today when music is released so quickly and so often. Maybe it was understandable a few years back when seven years might have only given a record company two albums on a particular artist. But today, there’s no justification for it. The bottom line is that if a record company wants to keep an artist they can renegotiate at the end of the seven years.”

- Larry Rudolph, CEO ReignDeer Entertainment, a division of Live Nation Entertainment

“Mad Decent Records is happy to join the fight for FAIR. No artist should be stuck in a record deal for longer than 7 years. We have seen great success with short-term deals and are confident that our competitors can too.”

- Jasper Goggins, President, Mad Decent Records.

“After over a decade of bearing witness to my peers’ stories of being held unhappily in long-term exclusive contracts, I wholeheartedly join in the fight for FAIR and hope that all label partners agree: 7 years is more than enough.”

- Morgan Kibby, GRAMMY-nominated recording artist, songwriter, and composer

"The California ‘seven-year rule’ is designed to protect workers, but for too long recording artists have been left behind. The music industry is rapidly evolving, and it’s time to update the legislation to include artists. The Recording Academy is fully supportive of AB 1385 and we look forward to ensuring artists have the ability to make their own creative choices and build paths to success that are in line with their artistic goals."

- Daryl P. Friedman, Chief Advocacy Officer of the Recording Academy

 “Recording artists should benefit from the same rights and protections as their creative counterparts in the film and television industries. The majority of label deals signed with new artists are structured to run for 10-12 years, or even more; however seven years is a long enough time in a career and they should have the opportunity to reset their relationship with their label partners by that stage.”

- Coran Capshaw (Red Light Management Founder and MAC Board member) 

“There are no contracts in California — other than recording contracts — that last more than seven years. Like baseball players or coders, recording artists should get the same legal consideration as any other party to a contract. Furthermore, recording artists often commit to contracts when one set of leadership is in place . . . and within seven years, there have often been multiple changes in that leadership. Signing with a team who shares your creative vision does not ensure that that team stays in place; it only assures that the artist is bound to the corporate entity. California law should extend equally to all players.”

-  John Silva, Head of Silva Artist Management (SAM) and MAC Board Member

 "The world has changed since the 1980s.  A law that provides special protection for the record labels is outdated. Music creators are organized and energized to modernize this law.”

- Dina LaPolt, veteran music attorney and artist advocate.

“An entirely new healthy and successful label ecosystem has exploded in the streaming age - one that doesn’t take 7 years of exclusive service to be successful. Artists should have the freedom of movement within this new system, which reaps great rewards for labels, many of which are now artist owned. Shorter contracts will drive competition - which will benefit everyone.”

- Andrew Mcinnes, CEO of TMWRK Management (Diplo, Sturgill Simpson, TV on the Radio, Dillon Francis)

 “Without artists, there would be no music industry. It’s indefensible that record companies are still holding artists hostage in outdated, never-ending deals because of some stupid CA law put into effect by the major record companies ironically.”  

- deadmau5 and owner of independent record label, mau5trap

“As veteran music attorney Peter Paterno observed, “The judge in DeHavilland v. Warner couldn’t have said it better: ‘Seven years of time is fixed as the maximum time for which [employees] may contract for their services without the right to change employers or occupations. Thereafter they may make a change if they deem it necessary or advisable. There are innumerable reasons why a change of employment may be to their advantage.…As one grows more experienced and skillful there should be a reasonable opportunity to move upward and to employ his abilities to the best advantage and for the highest obtainable compensation.’ Seven years—that’s the entire length of the Beatles’ recording career” continued Paterno. “Yet the labels, which are seeing unprecedented valuations and gearing up for sky-high IPOs, somehow feel entitled to more from their artists than the entire recorded output of the Beatles.  That recording artists, who have spoken truth to power for ages, should be treated differently and more onerously than any other California employee is both inexplicable and unacceptable.  It’s time for this inequity to end.”  

 - Dina LaPolt, veteran music attorney and artist advocate.

“Foreign Family Collective is thrilled to join our artist partners in their fight for the FAIR Act in California. As an independent label owned by ODESZA, we know how vital freedom of movement is for artists in a rapidly evolving music business.”  

- Adam Foley - Co-Owner and Label Manager

“Streaming has saved the record companies, but artists are still stuck in outdated, onerous contracts. Artists should be freed from unfair contracts."

- Dre London, President of London Ent Group

“Artists should not be the only people who are excluded from California’s protection against contracts longer than 7 years.  As the world, this country and  this industry evolves, so should the laws that govern it.  Most Artist have never been respected or treated as partners, just products, which makes it easier to perpetuate this unjust practice.  Artist aren’t looking for more, just the same protection as everyone else in the state.”

- Willie “Prophet” Stiggers, co-chair of Black Music Artists Coalition

As a recording artist, I call upon our label partners to work with us in the fight for FAIR. Gone are the days where labels need five exclusive albums to turn a profit. Labels are hugely profitable in the new music economy while many artists continue to struggle financially. FAIR is an important and overdue change to an antiquated law that will help the entire music ecosystem”

- Aloe Blacc

    "The deck is already stacked high enough against recording artists. There's no good reason as to why they should not enjoy the same protections as literally every other creative class in the state of California and have recording agreements capped at seven years. You'd be hard-pressed to find a record label executive that is locked into a contract with their employer for even seven years. Needless to say, recordings artists should enjoy the same freedom as those who sign them."

- Jordan Kurland, Founding Partner, Brilliant Corners Artist Management (Death Cab for Cutie, The Postal Service, Toro Y Moi, She & Him, etc)

 “We support our artist partners in their fight for the FAIR Act in California. As a label founded by artists who found themselves trapped in a major label deal unable to release their work, we know how important the freedom to release your music is to creativity, and have created a thriving ecosystem on that basis for over 30 years.”

- Ninja Tune