Whitey Sees Red Over TV Company’s Zero Sync Offer

Published November 7, 2013 | By skrufff

Click to read whitey's email to Betty's in full

‘Leave Them All Behind’ underground London legend Whitey called for a public discussion about TV production companies ‘abusing musicians’ this week after becoming enraged when a top UK company asked him to license a track to them for gratis.

Taking to Facebook, he published an email reply he sent to TV production company Betty in which he accused TV people in general of ‘fleecing’ musicians whenever possible’ due to a ‘culturally ingrained disdain for musicians.

“I am sick to death of your hollow schtick, of the inevitable line ‘Unfortunately there’s no budget for music’ as is some fixed Law of the Universe’ handed you down a sad but immutable financial verdict preventing you from budgeting to pay for music,” he complained.

YOUR company set the budget. So YOU have chosen to allocate no money for music. I get begging letters like this every week- from a booming, affluent global media industry.”

“This music is my hard-earned property,” he continued, “Would you walk into someone’s home, eat from their bowl, and walk out smiling, saying “So sorry, I’ve no budget for food”?

“I donate music all the time to indie projects, students and those who need it but cannot pay. But these people… Ugh.”

“I want a loud dialogue started in the music press about this shit. I’m sick of these people,” he added in a text accompanying the letter. “I propose a collective blacklist of companies that play this shabby angle, enough.”

Tech house producer Louis Osbourne agreed.

“BAD ASS!!!! LOVE IT! Go Nathan!” he responded.

(And) who the fuck would name their company betty tv anyway?” Arthur Baker added.

http://kck.st/HBDvfV (Whitey album kickstarter campaign; ‘Right now, I survive from music. The several thousand fans who consistently buy each new album pretty much keep me going. I’ve got my creative freedom, I’m my own boss, and I have the ability to distribute music globally- and that’s a vast improvement on how things were for many musicians in previous decades.

BUT this same freedom has its drawbacks- without the financial muscle and backing of a large record label, recording each album sets me back to cash zero. And once I release each album, there is no funding to produce CDs or vinyl, to promote the album, and NEVER any money left to equip, rehearse, and take a show on the road. Tour support costs way more than most people realize. And that’s a cycle most independent musicians now struggle to break . . .”)

http://www.betty.co.uk (Culture: We believe betty should be a creative, stimulating and caring place to work. The welfare of contributors and staff is one of our founding principles . . .’)