Rick Springfield learned firsthand how exploitative the music industry can be to naive young artists.
During a recent conversation with SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk, the “Jessie’s Girl” singer detailed one of his biggest early career mishaps.
“The music business has always preyed on the young. Absolutely,” Springfield noted. “And I got preyed on when I was like 20 and I signed away my publishing rights because I didn’t know any better.”
READ MORE: How Rick Springfield Knew His Biggest Song Would Be a Hit
“I was in Australia and these big Americans sent over this contract and we didn’t know about lawyers,” the rocker continued. “I didn’t even have a lawyer look at it and I just said, ‘OK, this must be fair.’ And I signed it and realized a couple of years later that they owned all of my publishing.”
Rick Springfield Supports Taking ‘All Their Music Back’
While Springfield chalked up the experience as “just the way of the world,” he also commended artists like Taylor Swift who have found creative ways to regain control of their music catalogs.
“[It] would always amaze me that I’d spend $100,000 on a frigging video in the ‘80s and the record company would own it,” the singer remarked. “The majority of [the labels] just would shove product down the pipeline as much as they could, until the pipeline choked. That was kind of their approach. So every artist has absolutely their due to take all their music back.”
Springfield released his compilation album Big Hits: Rick Springfield’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 2. He’ll also hit the road for the I Want My ’80s tour alongside John Waite beginning May 28.
’80s Australian Invasion
A look at the impact Australian musicians, actors, filmmakers and companies had on American pop culture in the ’80s.
Gallery Credit: Corey Irwin
