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Industry information that you can actually use
September 2001
MIAMI HERALD CONSPIRERS WITH EMELIO ESTEFAN IN SUPPRESSING ARTISTS
MIAMI HERALD CONSPIRERS WITH EMELIO ESTEFAN IN SUPPRESSING ARTISTS.
This is an open message to the music industry and the news media.
Particularly, people working at record labels, (like Sony) lawyers who
represent artists and all others interested in preserving the rights
of creative people. It is for circulation.
As you may have heard, songwriter-producer Kike Santander is accusing
his publisher Emilio Estefan, of taking credit for songs he wrote and
shorting him on writing and producing royalties. He's filed a lawsuit
in Miami
to recover money, credit and to be released from his exclusive deal.
But
have you heard that Mr. Estefan's home town paper, The Miami Herald,
has
become a co-conspirator in helping to cover his alleged malfeasance?
Emelio Estefan is husband and producer of the pop diva Gloria Estefan.
In about a decade Mr. Estefan has galvanized the Miami music scene and
built an empire centering on an ensemble of artist/writers one of which
is Kike
Santander. Kike is credited with writing and/or producing a string of
hits for Estefan Enterprises over the past five years.
Kike is not alone in his affront on Mr. Estefan. In the last few
months several other writer/producers have piled on with similar claims
of
plagiarism, theft and slighting of royalties. But Kike is the first
to
file suit.
I am not here to argue the merits of these claims, except to say that
I have
seen Mr. Santander 's contracts with the Estefans and they definitely
turn
the clock back on recording industry standards by about 25 years.
(Most writers on publishing deals net about 50 cents on the earned dollar.
On Kike's deal you can except to net about 14 to 28 cents. Based on
the
contracts that I read.)
Although I empathize for the writers on Mr. Estefan's deals I do not
necessarily think they will win. They singed a bad deal. So be it.
Happens every day. But, normally in a record/production company, when
a
thoroughbred like Santander rises from the stable one would renegotiate
rather than start
a war.
Mr. Estefan's policy is a bit avant guard: refuse him any concessions,
publicly call him a thief, then blackball him for having the gall to
think he deserves more. Even major labels aren't this hard edged.
Mr. Estefan's flying in the face of industry tradition is unfortunate
but expected. What I cannot fathom and did not expect, is that a major
publication, The Miami Herald (an entity composed of writers) has
decided to throw journalistic integrity to the dogs and aide him by
publishing a
lead article biased towards Mr. Estefan's case; a man accused of ripping
off other
writers. One can only guess as to their motivations for this but
here are the facts:
Many experts (myself included and some of you) were interviewed by
several Herald reporters weeks before the August 15th story was printed.
We
told the reporters of how Mr. Estefan's practices were not in keeping
with
industry standards. When the article came out, however, our comments
had been disregarded for others who had a more positive twist towards
Mr.
Estefan's viewpoints.
I called Jay Weaver, the reporter who interviewed me. Mr. Weaver
explained that all comments made by people that the editors felt were
"connected" to the writer's/plaintiff's side of the argument
were considered"too
biased."
Inclusive of the fact that I told Mr. Weaver that I have no direct
connection to the case, the Herald's standards for what is "too
biased" were not
uniform towards comments and people on the Estefan's side, as it seems
everyone who thought the Estefans were in the wrong tunred out to be
"too biased."
Explanations by Richard Wolfe, the attorney representing Santander,
were boiled down to one line, whereas Mr. Etefan and wife had entire
paragraphs of rebuttal.
One sentence in the article gives a perfect example: "Plenty of
industry players have been murmuring about Estefan's business practices.
But
few are willing to talk openly."
This is flat out untrue. Many were willing to talk.
Weaver's explanation to me was as follows (and this is a direct quote)
"Thisgot vetted like on no other story ever by the [Herald] editors."
This might explain why the article goes so far as to characterize Mr.
Estefan as "the king of Latin pop," and "Santander's
mentor," in an attempt to
make Kike's actions seem more outrageous and victimizing.
I could go into other examples of the Herald's bias against artists,
if I
had the space. In brief, they recently contacted me and literally asked
for "inside dirt on Michael Green" (producer of The Grammy
Awards) when
they learned that the city of Miami was reneging on their deal to protect
performers from protesters and that Mr. Green would likely take the
awards show elsewhere. I refused to dignify their request.
So here's the question for the day: When newspapers start acting like
public relations firms, where can people turn to for objective news?
If the Miami Herald is determined to spin truth just so Mr. Estefan
appears more sympathetic then they are part of the problem that masks
how
artist's rights are being suppressed. (BTW, these are your rights too
Mr.
Weaver & Co.)
MY REQUEST
Given this clear agenda, I request that we, in the music industry,
refuse to
comment to Miami Harald reporters regarding any present or future
music related story until such time as they see fit to publish ALL the
facts
and not just those that serve their sycophant policies.
I ask also that, until a correction is made, the Herald be given no
undue importance. Look elsewhere for facts and renew subscriptions with
papers that publish both sides to a story.
I also request that you contact Mr. Weaver and tell him what you think
of the Herald's "journalism." His email address is as follows:
Jweaver@Miamiherald.com (305) 376-3446.
As professionals and creators we must stick together if we are ever
to
get any justice. Newspapers should not be a PR way-station for the
privileged. If we do not insist, through our collective voice and buying
power, to
be heard, then we have no right to complain about how the powerful are
taking away our rights.
Enough,
Moses Avalon
For those interested in the original article here's the link. You'll
need it because the Miami Herald's website does not provide a search
engine:
http://www.miami.com/herald/content/news/local/dade/digdocs/111945.htm
PS: Regrets and farewells to Aaliyah and her crew. You will be
missed.
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