I got signed in 1986 to a small subsidiary of EMI Records called Manhattan. I was 22. The budget for my first album was less than six figures. I actually made the album for slightly less than the budget because I co-produced it myself (with David Cole) and did so much prep there was no time wasted in the studio. The album spawned four top 3 singles, ending with my first number one pop single, “Hold on to the Nights” on July 23, 1988. I posted a brief clip from that song’s original music video yesterday morning to celebrate its 38th anniversary of going to #1 and @universalmusicgroup immediately shut it down from being viewed in over 200 countries including the US. My debut album sold four million copies making EMI over $40,000,000 and while I did well (thanks to writing all the songs and owning my publishing) I made very little on the actual sales of the album. EMI basically loaned me high five figures and made back tens of millions. The punchline? I still don’t own that album. EMI was bought by UMG in 2012 for $2 billion so now they own my original masters. I was smart enough to re-record all my hits years ago (even before Taylor Swift thought of it!) and I’ve done my best to license only my new masters (which sound identical btw) to film and tv and commercials. Little by little it’s really made a difference and is the next best thing to owning the originals, but still not a remote comparison financially. The truth is, it’s just the way the business worked for decades. However, the level of greed, short-sightedness and just downright lameness of UMG to block artists from posting their own creations is immense. It’s exactly why the few major labels clinging to relevance and existence are viewed by us, the actual creators, with such disdain. Thanks to all of you who voiced their support for me yesterday. And hey UMG…come and get me. 😒 - @richardmarx