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Post by BlueShades874 on Jul 8, 2020 19:47:18 GMT -5
Ugh, this is such a mess and I hate that it has turned into such a nightmare. I saw Lady A trending on twitter and two seconds of scrolling was enough for me. That place is extremely toxic and I don’t need to go back to know what people are saying. I hope this works out ok for them because I’ve adored them from the very beginning and they all seem like such sweet, genuine people. I’m not going to pretend to fully understand the situation, but people seeing the headline “Group formerly known as Lady Antebellum sues Lady A” really isn’t a good look...
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recordyear
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album listener
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Post by recordyear on Jul 8, 2020 20:03:08 GMT -5
I was going to ask if anyone thinks all this negative press will lead to country radio not playing this song but then I remembered that country radio still supports the latest singles from Chase Rice and Chris Janson despite having tightly packed music concerts despite a pandemic. They judged it purely based on song's favorably until you attack the president, obviously. So it comes down whether this song has great callout. Also worth noticing that $10M that Lady A (lady) commands is actually half for herself and half for BLM fund.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jul 8, 2020 20:11:13 GMT -5
This is a good example of where being "right" isn't always the best option. Even if Lady A (the blues singer) was attempting to extort them, now to the average person reading headlines and social media posts this looks like Lady Antebellum took a decade to realize their name had slavery connotations, renamed themselves without realizing there was a Black artist using that name, and then sued the Black artist so they could take her name. If they were intending to look like an ally of the BLM movement, these actions are leading to the a perception that is.. not that.
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bdrm87
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Post by bdrm87 on Jul 8, 2020 20:21:58 GMT -5
I feel like I’m missing some information here. If they do have Lady A trademarked as they claim, why is the lawsuit necessary? She wants $10 million from them...so what? If this information is accurate then they have a legal right to use the name and that should be the end of it. The optics here are so bad, and they really have no one to blame but themselves.
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bamaefule
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Post by bamaefule on Jul 8, 2020 20:27:26 GMT -5
I feel like I’m missing some information here. If they do have Lady A trademarked as they claim, why is the lawsuit necessary? She wants $10 million from them...so what? If this information is accurate then they have a legal right to use the name and that should be the end of it. The optics here are so bad, and they really have no one to blame but themselves. Sucks that we can’t talk about their music at this point, so this will be my last post on this topic. What the heck were their lawyers thinking? What a joke that they found themselves in.
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raylatch98
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Post by raylatch98 on Jul 8, 2020 20:39:15 GMT -5
I was going to ask if anyone thinks all this negative press will lead to country radio not playing this song but then I remembered that country radio still supports the latest singles from Chase Rice and Chris Janson despite having tightly packed music concerts despite a pandemic. They judged it purely based on song's favorably until you attack the president, obviously. So it comes down whether this song has great callout. Also worth noticing that $10M that Lady A (lady) commands is actually half for herself and half for BLM fund. I am well aware how radio works just fyi, I just figured from an outside perspective that country radio would not be associated with a music act that has bad/negative press associated with them.
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fireflies
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Post by fireflies on Jul 8, 2020 20:52:03 GMT -5
I'm going to stream some Lady A (the band) music right now! They don't need to cave in to anybody extorting them for $10 million.
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d3vin44
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Post by d3vin44 on Jul 9, 2020 0:30:10 GMT -5
This is KILLING me. I love Lady A and I truly think their heart was in the right place with the name change. Looking at Anita Whites twitter account, she was getting anywhere from 0-7 likes on her posts prior to June 11th. It’s no wonder any research done on the name didn’t turn up any results, she is not a known artist and hadn’t trademarked the name or registered it as a business, etc. The articles I read make her out to be a well known Seattle artist, which is not true. She’s enjoying the fame this is bringing her and clearly trying to cash in on it. It’s really infuriating because the BLM movement is so incredibly important, and Lady A is now being punished for simply trying to be better.
I will say though, I don’t know why they didn’t just continue on and use the name without the lawsuit, as they own the name and the lawsuit seems a bit pointless, other than making them look racist. :(
It’s all just sad to see, and I’m sad to see them being immediately canceled by so many, especially because nobody reads past the headline anymore.
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evan93
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Post by evan93 on Jul 9, 2020 4:19:42 GMT -5
Of course twitter is all over this and wanting Lady A “cancelled” :rolleyes:
Everyone that has followed this band for years, like many of us on here, know they’re the sweetest and can see they were trying to do what they thought was right. I honestly thought changing their name was unnecessary but they did and I have no problem with that at all, especially since many found Antebellum to have negative connotations.
I’m not that bothered by an eventual backlash because they have been around for almost 15 years, and are not at the height of their career anymore, as you can see from their album sales from the past few years and from their declining radio success. Plus, having been on there until a few years ago, Twitter really is a world on its own, people like to focus on what’s trendy at the moment and then they move on in droves when not getting any more likes or retweets.
Sorry for the lengthy post, but I haven’t written here in years and wanted to give my view on this mess.
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matty005
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Post by matty005 on Jul 9, 2020 8:06:24 GMT -5
Lady A consists of kind, caring, genuine people.
Lady A should not have sued as it’s a really bad look.
Both statements can be true.
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Post by BlueShades874 on Jul 9, 2020 8:21:02 GMT -5
I was thinking a little more about this this morning. I remember when this whole thing started, I had to work to find Lady A (the singer) on Spotify. No disrespect intended, but she acted like she was this big name, but she had only 19 monthly listeners on Spotify. I just went to look, and she is up to 3045 monthly listeners, so she has definitely benefited from this. I get her frustration, but at the same time it looks like she’s just trying to cash in on this and use it as an opportunity to get her name out there when she wasn’t able to before. I truly hope for the best for both parties and hope they can move on from this.
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Post by Devil Marlena Nylund on Jul 9, 2020 9:17:55 GMT -5
Agreed that suing her is a bad look. I think the group should have looked into it before announcing their name change and that's on them - but they had the name trademarked for years now, which means the solo Lady A was also legally in the wrong. What would have happened in the event she blew up and became known and was told, wait - you actually can't go by Lady A because Lady Antebellum has that trademarked.
It's definitely a challenging situation because even if they had talked amongst each other before (and maybe they did), she would have realized that she can't use the name, or they would have realized, oh, there's already a Lady A so let's go with something else. Obviously since the group is bigger, they have more to risk from it and a bigger brand in their name, but that doesn't mean the smaller solo Lady A shouldn't have rights and a say too.
I don't even know what the best resolution would be that would suit everyone. The easiest thing would be for the solo Lady A to change her stage name since she presumably doesn't have as strong a brand, but the group has already dug into the situation and it's going to be tough for them to shake this.
Maybe they can do what the band Bush did when they released in Canada, add an X to their name. Lady A X. :kii:
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.indulgecountry
Diamond Member
Best Country Poster 2011, 2017, & 2018
"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on Jul 9, 2020 11:18:56 GMT -5
The silver lining I see to all this is that from what I've seen of "cancellation culture," is that this will all blow over in a few weeks or a month and no one will care anymore. Lady A (the group) will be fine and I don't see this having any real negative impact on their career -- country radio is not going to let this majorly effect their airplay, and I'd be willing to be a majority of the social justice keyboard warriors going in on them right now are people who are not fans of theirs at all anyway that just picked up the sensationalized headlines of "omg white people suing black woman to STEAL HER NAME!" Like one of my friends shared an article with a headline like that on her Facebook last night, and I know for a fact said friend that shared it does not listen to country music at all and I'd be willing to bet money she shared it without even reading the details of the article (she shared it without adding any of her own commentary, and her response to my comment on her post read like her having no clue what the situation entailed, lol). So many people stop at just the headline and that's why all these SJWs are up in arms on social media rn. These are not their fans turning on them, or even country music listeners in general.
Bottom line: this will most likely blow over by the time we get to August, Lady A (band) will be fine long term, Lady A (blues lady) will find a way to pad her coin purse with this until people lose interest and she goes back to irrelevancy.
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seak05
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Post by seak05 on Jul 9, 2020 17:37:01 GMT -5
This is a good read, t.co/zGrx91iKwmtldr:1) she’s been using the name since 1987, the trademark issue highlights the massive imbalance in money and power structure between a Black Indy artist & a White major label artist. 2) she was never really interested in sharing the exact name & doesn’t think Lady A was interested in hearing that 3) the 10mil was half charities & half to allow her to rebrand, as her catalogue is now buried behind theirs on music services
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Post by lady𝓐fan on Jul 9, 2020 18:03:43 GMT -5
Reading that article left a terrible taste in my mouth. If everything that she’s saying is true, then I’m really disappointed in them... They could’ve handled this situation so much better, and it saddens me to hear that this is how things went down.
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d3vin44
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Post by d3vin44 on Jul 9, 2020 18:32:58 GMT -5
I guess I don’t understand why someone with zero followers and 18 monthly listeners needs $5 million dollars to rebrand... she’s already gained national attention and a ton of followers/listeners by all of this.
She wasn’t making any money prior to this, now she is, and she’s demanding millions more. She’s claiming they are playing victim when it seems very clear to me, she’s playing victim and being extremely greedy about it.
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.indulgecountry
Diamond Member
Best Country Poster 2011, 2017, & 2018
"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on Jul 9, 2020 19:14:53 GMT -5
I guess I don’t understand why someone with zero followers and 18 monthly listeners needs $5 million dollars to rebrand... she’s already gained national attention and a ton of followers/listeners by all of this. She wasn’t making any money prior to this, now she is, and she’s demanding millions more. She’s claiming they are playing victim when it seems very clear to me, she’s playing victim and being extremely greedy about it. The media keeps trying to spin it like she's this well-known and established artist in Seattle, and you, a poster who lives there, is like "who?" Not to mention it feels like the press is making it out like she didn't know the country band existed and used 'Lady A' as their nickname for the past decade+ and only discovered them/came forward last month upon the name change announcement... but at the same time is trying to fault the band for not knowing she existed when she's a much less notable indie act. Like not a single person made even one remark in the past decade to this woman to the effect of 'oh Lady A, like that country group,' because that's what I would've thought if I went to a dive bar and saw that "Lady A" was the act performing at open mic night. According to her Wikipedia page -- that was only created recently because of the controversy because before then she didn't have one -- she officially released an album for the first time in 2010, after Lady Antebellum had been in the music scene for several years and had their breakthrough smash "Need You Now."
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Post by Devil Marlena Nylund on Jul 9, 2020 19:23:58 GMT -5
I think some of you underestimate the fact that people can be musicians, even small time ones who never achieve fame, and still make a living doing it. Lady A is likely one of these people so why should she have to change up her livelihood because an international group has more or less decided to go by the stage name she has. Obviously her law suit of $10 million is beyond what she’d get - all law suits are ridiculous when they’re filed, but just because she’s not famous doesn’t mean she isn’t entitled to what she’s built up.
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.indulgecountry
Diamond Member
Best Country Poster 2011, 2017, & 2018
"You left a mark on my face // And brought a dozen red flags in a vase"
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Post by .indulgecountry on Jul 9, 2020 20:01:07 GMT -5
I think some of you underestimate the fact that people can be musicians, even small time ones who never achieve fame, and still make a living doing it. Lady A is likely one of these people so why should she have to change up her livelihood because an international group has more or less decided to go by the stage name she has. Obviously her law suit of $10 million is beyond what she’d get - all law suits are ridiculous when they’re filed, but just because she’s not famous doesn’t mean she isn’t entitled to what she’s built up. The band was going to continue to let her do her thing though without issue, and things only went south when she/her legal reps requested $10 million, which is just exorbitant. Lady Antebellum is being demonized right now and while I think it's partially fair because they did things that unfortunately file under 'bad optics' by choosing to sue her, I'm just not agreeing with the common angle that this lady's been totally slighted and blindsided in this situation. Like I believe there's no way this band's existence completely eluded her all this time, since their Lady A nickname was mainstream and trademarked around the time she first officially released her first album. I'm sure her name and music were already buried when people searched for 'Lady A' before the name change became official, for instance. If anything, this has given her and her music attention it never received before.
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Post by Devil Marlena Nylund on Jul 9, 2020 20:08:40 GMT -5
Tbh I never heard of them using Lady A until they changed their name so I don’t know how common that was, and the trademark part, if that’s the case then she doesn’t have a case and all of this is moot. While they’re no doubt getting raked over the coals for it, I’d be surprised if she wasn’t getting threats in her inbox too. I don’t think either side is fully not-guilty of this situation becoming what it is but I don’t think she should roll over and give up just because she’s not famous.
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Music Fan
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Post by Music Fan on Jul 9, 2020 20:12:10 GMT -5
To clarify things a bit, Lady A isn't actually suing Lady A. They're looking for a declaratory injunction. I think after negotiations broke down, their lawyers were pretty sure that there was a lawsuit coming their way from this woman (and jeezus asking for $10M when you only have like 100 listeners?!?). Essentially, with this lawsuit, all they are asking for is the court to "declare" that they are rightful owners of Lady A, especially since they trademarked this a decade ago with no objection. Nothing less, nothing more. It's not like they're suing her directly for damages ($) or anything like that. Sure, this woman will likely spend a good amount of money on attorneys, but that's on her for dragging this out when *it seemed like* Lady A(ntebellum) were trying to compromise.
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Post by lady𝓐fan on Jul 9, 2020 20:12:18 GMT -5
I really don’t know what to think because I see both sides of the argument and both have valid points. All I can say is that it didn’t need to be this way–they really should’ve known that controversy would ensue when they filed the lawsuit. I’ll wait until they eventually release a statement or something about all of this before forming my opinion.
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Post by BlueShades874 on Jul 9, 2020 20:17:54 GMT -5
I really don’t know what to think because I see both sides of the argument and both have valid points. All I can say is that it didn’t need to be this way–they really should’ve known that controversy would ensue when they filed the lawsuit. I’ll wait until they eventually release a statement or something about all of this before forming my opinion. Same. The more I read the more I can see both sides of the argument. It’s just a mess that really didn’t need to happen. All I know is Lady A (the band) is getting slaughtered all over social media right now. I peeked at a few comments and it was bad, and I had to stop. I just really hope that this blows over and doesn’t kill their career.
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Post by fisherwoodcu on Jul 9, 2020 20:27:04 GMT -5
I don’t want to get involved in giving my personal opinion of who is in the right or wrong here because there are SO many different factors at play from both sides. The main thing that blows my mind is just the pure amount of money Anita Lady A desires...I don’t think anyone seriously believes that five million dollars are required for her to rebrand when she didn’t really have a strong following whatsoever before this. Maybe she wasn’t aiming for national stardom, but her number of monthly listeners literally could have just been her family. I mean, my high-school aged neighbor has a much stronger following on Spotify and Soundcloud and she makes music for fun in her basement to put things into perspective of the number of fans Anita had before this controversy. My neighbor would never be able to get five million dollars (ten million I guess technically) if she felt that someone was taking her name that she uses. Obviously I recognize there’s way more to the story than just that, but the financial aspect really jumps out at me. I know that’s a strange comparison, but it’s something I thought of that makes sense to me at least.
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kanimal
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Post by kanimal on Jul 9, 2020 20:34:53 GMT -5
To clarify things a bit, Lady A isn't actually suing Lady A. They're looking for a declaratory injunction. I think after negotiations broke down, their lawyers were pretty sure that there was a lawsuit coming their way from this woman (and jeezus asking for $10M when you only have like 100 listeners?!?). Essentially, with this lawsuit, all they are asking for is the court to "declare" that they are rightful owners of Lady A, especially since they trademarked this a decade ago with no objection. Nothing less, nothing more. It's not like they're suing her directly for damages ($) or anything like that. Sure, this woman will likely spend a good amount of money on attorneys, but that's on her for dragging this out when *it seemed like* Lady A(ntebellum) were trying to compromise. I don't even think it goes THAT far; they just want the court to say that they ALSO have the right to use the name. But, yeah, I agree with you that people are misconstruing what the "lawsuit" means in this case. That said, let's also be realistic - an internationally successful band using the name Lady A will effectively squeeze this independent artist out of the name she's been using for many years. The fact that she's small is actually why this is a bigger problem (contrary to the argument a lot of people are making), as she'll lose all her traction on SEO, digital services, and probably be seen as "copying" the more successful country band to the general public. So, realistically, the second they decided to call themselves Lady A is the second they, for all intents and purposes, stopped this woman from using that name. Regarding her financial demand - I think we can all agree, however cruel it may sound, that there's no way her brand/career would be objectively appraised at $10 million (or even $5 million, given the point about her donating the rest to BLM charities). However, the extent to which it should be viewed as "extortion" (or even unfair) depends on whose version of recent events you believe. If you believe Lady Antebellum's story that they were all on the same page and then she suddenly asked for a bunch of money, sure, it looks like opportunism and greed. However, if you believe her story in that she was basically bullied into "shaking hands" - and thus saw this as her only option to slow down the process and defend her brand - then she's totally justified in asking for the money. Because remember - the demand could be as much about pressuring Lady Antebellum to pick a different name as it is her actually thinking she's going to become a millionaire. But even if some aspects of the case support Lady Antebellum's actions and right to the name ... it's hard to support them overall. Mainly because it's not clear why they need to use the name Lady A. Yes, it makes the transition easier ... but I thought the point is that they were willing to make a sacrifice in order to make a point about racial equality. Otherwise, it basically does make the name change seem "performative."
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recordyear
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Post by recordyear on Jul 10, 2020 0:26:51 GMT -5
But even if some aspects of the case support Lady Antebellum's actions and right to the name ... it's hard to support them overall. Mainly because it's not clear why they need to use the name Lady A. Yes, it makes the transition easier ... but I thought the point is that they were willing to make a sacrifice in order to make a point about racial equality. Otherwise, it basically does make the name change seem "performative." This. Or they could've just used their original name to begin with. Not many people cared about that "racial implication" they were trying to make.
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g8erboi
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Post by g8erboi on Aug 23, 2020 9:08:18 GMT -5
It really seems like the name change backfired completely. Literally right before the change, this was selling extremely well for its airplay and was showing all the signs of becoming a moment for them. Now the sales are on the mediocre side and it doesn’t look like the streaming performance is that strong either. This still has a lot of room left to grow, obviously, but I don’t see this leaving much of an impact for them anymore.
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someguy
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Post by someguy on Aug 23, 2020 13:03:10 GMT -5
I wouldn’t say the name change is the reason. I think it’s more how they conducted themselves.
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Troublemaker
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Post by Troublemaker on Aug 23, 2020 14:58:33 GMT -5
At this point the best option would be for them to count their loss and start working on album 9 because I doubt anything they release from Ocean will do much.
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Post by nncountrykid on Aug 24, 2020 10:20:23 GMT -5
It took THAT many people to write THIS? This is catchy enough, but nothing particularly special. It'd be ok on the radio for me. I'm pretty sure it's a contractual thing on Songland where the artists and the three judges all get a songwriting credit regardless.
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