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The ‘Fancy’ singer took to social media to express her frustrations, claiming Universal Music Group (UMG) owes her millions. The Australian rapper referred to Universal Music as “criminals who actively take advantage of all of their artists in perpetuity for their own gain”. She claims that UMG treats their artists poorly despite them bringing millions in revenue. These claims come off the back of a dispute over unpaid royalties stemming from the music Azalea released with Universal-owned labels in the mid 2010s, including 2014 album ‘The New Classic’ and the big hit ‘Fancy’.
“Crazy how in my entire career I was never paid a single royalty by Universal Music for anything outside of the USA. They owe me millions of dollars in back pay, that they technically stole from me, as per my contract I am due payment. The amount owed is in the 8-figure range,” she wrote.
The Grammy Award nominated rapper further disclosed that UMG attempted to settle the matter outside court with a sum that she deemed “laughably low” given the scale of what she is allegedly owed. “Last week they tried to respond to my lawyer and offer me a settlement of 18k. I’m told this is a normal response from their lawyers and after appearing in court they end up paying millions as they’re supposed to.”
“I’d like to publicly say that I think Universal Music are criminals who actively take advantage of ALL of their artists in perpetuity for their own gain … Universal music really needs to do better in their treatment of the artists who quite literally earn them millions via intellectual property they had zero part in creating. Yuck,” she continued, claiming she would not step down before getting her money.
“Universal music mark my words you ugly bi**h – You will pay me what’s owed.” She also noted that her battle with UMG has been ongoing for “over two years and counting.” As of now, Universal Music Group has not publicly responded to Azalea’s allegations.
