Maverick Records, home to bands such as Tantric, Story Of The Year, Dakona and many others, has lost $66 million since 1999, according to recently unsealed court documents filed by its adversary and partner, Warner Music Group.
Last month, Maverick sued Warner Music for $200 million, claiming breach of contract and fraud. The Warner documents were part of a pre-emptive claim filed in a Delaware court asking a judge to find that the company had fulfilled its commitment to Maverick.
The documents claim that in order for Maverick to get out of its joint venture with Warner Music, which is up at the end of the year, Maverick will have to pay $92.5 million, in addition to the value of Warner’s interest in the label. The price tag includes the $66 million in losses, a $20 million loan and $6.5 million in unrecouped fees.
According to Warner Music’s filing, if Maverick cannot raise the money needed to buy itself out the joint venture, Warner can convert the label into a “purely passive economic interest,” taking all control of the label away from Maverick. In this case, Maverick would reap no profits from the label until the losses were repaid.
Maverick Records, owned by Madonna, is home to many big name acts including Alanis Morissette, Michelle Branch, and of course Madonna. The label was also the temporary home to The Rising, where they funded the recording of The Rising’s debut album, and began promoting it, only to drop the band from the label months later, without ever releasing the record. One can’t imagine why this label is losing so much money…
