EcHoplex
06-21-2002, 12:18 PM
Remember the band Third Eye Blind? Well, here's an article on their former guitar player Kevin Cadogan - who's been involved in a lengthy 2 and a half year court battle with the band. You'll definitely want to read this. It gives us all a music biz lesson to think about.
New York Times copyright 2002.
What is a band? To most rock fans (and dictionaries), a band is a group of people playing music. But to lawyers and record labels, a band is something that exists on paper, a business relationship with owners, employees and sometimes even shareholders. Some bands function as a democracy, with each member owning an equal share and having an equal say. Others are more like a monarchy (or in the worst of cases, a dictatorship), with one leader in charge of a bunch of hired guns. And then there's Third Eye Blind, the rock band that struck success in 1997 with the hit "Semi-Charmed Life."
The band, several people who worked with it said, was presented to some of its members and its associates as a democracy, but behind the scenes was set up as a corporation with a single owner and shareholder, its singer, Stephan Jenkins.
For the past two and a half years, its former guitarist, Kevin Cadogan, has been mired in a lawsuit with the band. In the suit, he accused the group of fraud, wrongful termination and breach of contract. On Tuesday, the day the lawsuit was set to go to trial in Federal District Court in Oakland, the parties reached a financial settlement and agreement, the terms of which have not been disclosed.
Two weeks before the settlement, however, Mr. Cadogan, who records and produces music in Berkeley, Calif., visited Los Angeles to discuss his experiences with Third Eye Blind. His stories showed just how complex the inner workings of a group can be.
Like many band relationships, the problems boiled down to the metaphor of who gets to hold the controls, who gets the credit for holding the controls and who gets paid for holding the controls. The band formed in Berkeley in 1994, shortly after a hip-hop duo that Mr. Jenkins was in broke up. Soon, he and Mr. Cadogan were working together as Third Eye Blind, agreeing, Mr. Cadogan said, to an equal partnership in the band and its earnings.
As record labels began to show interest, the mood began to change. Five days before the band signed with Elektra Records, Mr. Jenkins established Third Eye Blind Inc. as a corporation, naming himself as the corporation's sole owner and shareholder, without telling anyone else in the four-member group, Mr. Cadogan said. The record deal, then, signed Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Cadogan as artists "professionally known as Third Eye Blind," but the payments were made to Third Eye Blind Inc., which in effect meant to Mr. Jenkins.
In fact, it wasn't until three years later, Mr. Cadogan said, that he even realized that he wasn't an equal partner. Some of the band's business associates, however, feel that Mr. Jenkins deserved to control the group, since it was his vision and ambition that was largely responsible for its mainstream success.
Jason Slater, the original bassist in Third Eye Blind, said Mr. Jenkins often declined to record a good song of Mr. Cadogan's because it meant giving him credit. "Stephan's been doing that same thing to everybody forever," Mr. Slater said. "He doesn't want to lose the façade of him being the musical genius, so he surrounds himself with people who are talented to pump himself up."
Right or wrong, Mr. Jenkins's musical and business instincts paid off, and the band's self-titled debut album went on to sell some six million copies.
Business problems, however, weren't the only tensions within the band. "They were at odds with each other almost the entire time they were working together," Eric Valentine, a co-producer of the band's first album, said of Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Cadogan. "They were two very strong personalities. But the stuff they collaborated on was my favorite of everything the band has done. That tension created a lot of good music but ultimately destroyed their relationship."
Mr. Cadogan said the breaking pointcame in 1999 when he discovered that Mr. Jenkins had issued every share in Third Eye Blind Inc. to himself. Mr. Cadogan then declined to sign a deal that would give the band $1 million to record an EP, or mini-album, until he and Mr. Jenkins could straighten out their affairs. Around the same time, one of the band's early guitarists, Tony Fredianelli, was brought back into the fold, originally to play keyboards and guitar in concerts.
The EP deal was then renegotiated to exclude Mr. Cadogan, and on Jan. 18, 2000, the money was transferred to Third Eye Blind Inc. Exactly one week later, after a performance at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, Mr. Cadogan was told that he had been cut from the band, replaced by Mr. Fredianelli. Mr. Cadogan said he returned to his hotel room to discover that, adding insult to injury, his hotel bill for the four-day stay had been put in advance in his name, not the band's. The band's manager, Eric Godtland, did not return repeated requests for comment, and the spokeswoman for its record label was unavailable.
Since leaving the band, Mr. Cadogan said, he has not been paid a penny in royalties. Third Eye Blind is working on its first album in three years, due out this fall.
Looking back on his experiences, Mr. Cadogan, who now leads the rock band Bully, said, "We're taught algebra, geometry and calculus in school, but what we're not taught is basic law."
"I walked around as a kid with that shirt from the Clash tour that said `Know Your Rights,' he said, "but unfortunately I only saw the letters in the mirror and they were backwards, so I couldn't read what they said."
The lesson learned, he said, for fledgling rock stars is: "Learn about law, and about statutes of limitations.
"Then get good lawyers."
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company
New York Times copyright 2002.
What is a band? To most rock fans (and dictionaries), a band is a group of people playing music. But to lawyers and record labels, a band is something that exists on paper, a business relationship with owners, employees and sometimes even shareholders. Some bands function as a democracy, with each member owning an equal share and having an equal say. Others are more like a monarchy (or in the worst of cases, a dictatorship), with one leader in charge of a bunch of hired guns. And then there's Third Eye Blind, the rock band that struck success in 1997 with the hit "Semi-Charmed Life."
The band, several people who worked with it said, was presented to some of its members and its associates as a democracy, but behind the scenes was set up as a corporation with a single owner and shareholder, its singer, Stephan Jenkins.
For the past two and a half years, its former guitarist, Kevin Cadogan, has been mired in a lawsuit with the band. In the suit, he accused the group of fraud, wrongful termination and breach of contract. On Tuesday, the day the lawsuit was set to go to trial in Federal District Court in Oakland, the parties reached a financial settlement and agreement, the terms of which have not been disclosed.
Two weeks before the settlement, however, Mr. Cadogan, who records and produces music in Berkeley, Calif., visited Los Angeles to discuss his experiences with Third Eye Blind. His stories showed just how complex the inner workings of a group can be.
Like many band relationships, the problems boiled down to the metaphor of who gets to hold the controls, who gets the credit for holding the controls and who gets paid for holding the controls. The band formed in Berkeley in 1994, shortly after a hip-hop duo that Mr. Jenkins was in broke up. Soon, he and Mr. Cadogan were working together as Third Eye Blind, agreeing, Mr. Cadogan said, to an equal partnership in the band and its earnings.
As record labels began to show interest, the mood began to change. Five days before the band signed with Elektra Records, Mr. Jenkins established Third Eye Blind Inc. as a corporation, naming himself as the corporation's sole owner and shareholder, without telling anyone else in the four-member group, Mr. Cadogan said. The record deal, then, signed Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Cadogan as artists "professionally known as Third Eye Blind," but the payments were made to Third Eye Blind Inc., which in effect meant to Mr. Jenkins.
In fact, it wasn't until three years later, Mr. Cadogan said, that he even realized that he wasn't an equal partner. Some of the band's business associates, however, feel that Mr. Jenkins deserved to control the group, since it was his vision and ambition that was largely responsible for its mainstream success.
Jason Slater, the original bassist in Third Eye Blind, said Mr. Jenkins often declined to record a good song of Mr. Cadogan's because it meant giving him credit. "Stephan's been doing that same thing to everybody forever," Mr. Slater said. "He doesn't want to lose the façade of him being the musical genius, so he surrounds himself with people who are talented to pump himself up."
Right or wrong, Mr. Jenkins's musical and business instincts paid off, and the band's self-titled debut album went on to sell some six million copies.
Business problems, however, weren't the only tensions within the band. "They were at odds with each other almost the entire time they were working together," Eric Valentine, a co-producer of the band's first album, said of Mr. Jenkins and Mr. Cadogan. "They were two very strong personalities. But the stuff they collaborated on was my favorite of everything the band has done. That tension created a lot of good music but ultimately destroyed their relationship."
Mr. Cadogan said the breaking pointcame in 1999 when he discovered that Mr. Jenkins had issued every share in Third Eye Blind Inc. to himself. Mr. Cadogan then declined to sign a deal that would give the band $1 million to record an EP, or mini-album, until he and Mr. Jenkins could straighten out their affairs. Around the same time, one of the band's early guitarists, Tony Fredianelli, was brought back into the fold, originally to play keyboards and guitar in concerts.
The EP deal was then renegotiated to exclude Mr. Cadogan, and on Jan. 18, 2000, the money was transferred to Third Eye Blind Inc. Exactly one week later, after a performance at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, Mr. Cadogan was told that he had been cut from the band, replaced by Mr. Fredianelli. Mr. Cadogan said he returned to his hotel room to discover that, adding insult to injury, his hotel bill for the four-day stay had been put in advance in his name, not the band's. The band's manager, Eric Godtland, did not return repeated requests for comment, and the spokeswoman for its record label was unavailable.
Since leaving the band, Mr. Cadogan said, he has not been paid a penny in royalties. Third Eye Blind is working on its first album in three years, due out this fall.
Looking back on his experiences, Mr. Cadogan, who now leads the rock band Bully, said, "We're taught algebra, geometry and calculus in school, but what we're not taught is basic law."
"I walked around as a kid with that shirt from the Clash tour that said `Know Your Rights,' he said, "but unfortunately I only saw the letters in the mirror and they were backwards, so I couldn't read what they said."
The lesson learned, he said, for fledgling rock stars is: "Learn about law, and about statutes of limitations.
"Then get good lawyers."
Copyright 2002 The New York Times Company