In September 2018, Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) filed a lawsuit against his former label Glassnote Records due to an ongoing royalties dispute between the two parties. Now, Glover and Glassnote have settled the dispute, Variety reports and Pitchfork can confirm.
The 2018 lawsuit claimed that Glassnote owed Glover upwards of $10,000 in streaming royalties. It also stated that the independent record label had been miscalculating payments in breach of their licensing agreement. The allegations outlined in the suit included breaches of contract, good faith, fair dealing, and fiduciary duty, as well as negligence.
Glover’s legal action was in response to a July 2018 complaint filed by Glassnote that requested a judge to mediate their contract dispute with Glover in court. “Donald Glover made a claim that he was owed 95% of SoundExchange royalties when we are legislatively and contractually required to share those royalties 50/45,” a Glassnote representative told Pitchfork earlier that year. “We are not asking for anything back from Donald Glover, just that we are able to retain the monies that are contractually and legally ours and that have already been paid to us.”
Now, according to a stipulation of voluntary dismissal filed on Friday (March 1) in the New York Southern District Court, both parties have agreed to drop the dispute.
Glover released three albums on Glassnote between 2011 and 2016 (Camp, Because the Internet, and “Awaken, My Love!”). In January 2018, it was announced that he had signed a deal with RCA.
Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Glover and Glassnote for comment.
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