Iconic crooner Bobby Brown admits that he and the rest of New Edition were paid what amounted to crumbs on their first label deal.
Because of the plethora of biographical movies on Lifetime that told the stories of Brown, New Edition, TLC and Toni Braxton, fans have become familiar with how teens and tweens get exploited by powerful record companies into signing horrible contracts.
New Edition’s payment for its 1st album is shocking
But no one expected that it was this bad. Brown told Shannon Sharpe on his popular “Club Shay Shay” podcast that, despite the millions of records sold through their album and their No. 1 single, “Candy Girl,” the group was given $500 and a VCR to sign a contract on their groundbreaking debut album.
“And our royalty checks were, like, $1.68,” Brown told Sharpe. “We got $500 to sign and a VCR. Actually, it was a Betamax at the time.”
Bobby Brown admits he and New Edition were exploited
Brown continued, saying, “We got raked (over the coals). We didn’t know anything about (the business). All we wanted to do was perform. All we wanted to do was have enough money to go to the movies, buy candy, (and) date girls. That’s all we thought about.”
@clubshayshaypod “Our royalty was like a $1.68, but we got $500 to sign and a VCR.” – #BobbyBrown
When Sharpe asked Brown how much he thinks the group members lost on that first album alone, Brown said the range was between $30-$40 million apiece.
“We were treated like little slaves,” Sharpe quoted Brown as saying from a past interview.
Brown corroborated the veracity of the quote, and added, “We worked all the time, and didn’t get paid.”
Brown admits that family members helped sign that first deal. And he says that, while his brother is still in his life, he no longer handles any of his contract negotiations since the 1980s.
“My brother is in my life. He will always be in my life. But I have found that me handling my own stuff, with my wife and my lawyer, is a lot easier than, you know, putting that pressure on him,” Brown said.
