About Fuck Record Labels
The recording industry has produced extraordinary music. It has also produced an extraordinary paper trail of lawsuits, regulator actions, settlements, and contract fights in which the people who make the music — and the fans and venues around it — came out worse. This site collects that paper trail in one place and links every claim to its source.
The goal is not outrage for its own sake. It is documentation: a durable, browsable record of what is on file, so artists negotiating deals, journalists chasing stories, and fans who want to understand the business can start from primary sources instead of rumor.
What we want this to do
Receipts without a way forward are just despair. So the other half of this site is a practical toolkit: guides on the money math, keeping your masters, reading a contract, and building an audience the gatekeepers can’t revoke, plus a tools page for staying independent. The mission is simple — help artists keep their rights and their money, and help fans find music through people instead of algorithms.
That’s also why this site is part of the GOAT Music network — a place to rate the albums you actually play, build a public profile, and discover music through real listeners’ picks rather than a recommendation engine.
Sourcing methodology
Every entry follows the same rules:
- Primary sources first. Factual claims link to court filings, regulator press releases, official settlements, company statements, or established reporting — not to other opinion pieces.
- Honest status labels. Each case is tagged: Verified (a ruling, regulator action, admission, or undisputed record), Settled (resolved without a verdict on the underlying claims), Alleged (a public claim not established by a ruling), Disputed (the parties contest the facts), or Context (an explainer on an industry practice).
- “Alleged” means alleged. Where a matter settled or never reached a verdict, we say so and do not present allegations as established fact.
- Fact separated from commentary. The sourced summary and timeline stay factual; framing and opinion are kept distinct.
- Archived links. Where possible, primary sources are mirrored to an archive so the proof survives link rot.
Corrections policy
If something here is inaccurate, incomplete, or out of date, we want to fix it. Send the specific claim, the correction, and a source, and we will review and update or remove the entry as warranted. Subjects of any entry have a standing right of reply, which we will publish alongside the original.
Reach us through the tip line. Corrections are prioritized over new submissions.
What this site is not
This is documentation and commentary in the public interest, not legal advice and not a court. Inclusion of a label reflects specific documented matters, not a judgment on everything the company has ever done or everyone who works there.