Beyoncé, Usher, Zendaya, and many more were singled out for allegedly stealing music publishing on songs they played no part in writing.
Songwriter Tiffany Red has been using her Instagram page to call out Beyoncé for allegedly taking writing and publishing credits on songs that were handed to her. Red, who most recently supported her friend Cassie in her abuse allegations against Diddy, first brought attention to the matter after the Grammy Awards, when Jay-Z called out the Recording Academy for repeatedly snubbing Bey in the Album of the Year category.
“Maybe @beyonce will win the Grammy for Album of the Year when she starts paying #songwriters and stops taking publishing from them,” Red captioned her post. “I hear it’s around 15%-30%, btw. Grammys don’t pay the bills.”
Red then followed up with a call to action, encouraging Beyoncé to “modernize” her business model and serve as an example of ensuring the safety and longevity of songwriters’ and producers’ music careers.
“If you modernize your business practices with songwriters and producers, you can help save the livelihood of this profession,” Red wrote. “Publishing royalties aren’t livable anymore unless you write the single, and even then, it has to be massive to make decent money.”
On Feb. 6, Red shared a lengthy video where she named Beyoncé, Zendaya, Tamar, Tamar Braxton, and more while explaining the “power dynamics” behind stealing publishing from songwriters. She focused her argument on Beyoncé for the publishing rights she allegedly receives on songs that Red claims other songwriters have written.
“The reason I called out Beyoncé is because Beyoncé is the Michael Jackson of our generation,” Red explained. “So if there’s anybody that could reshape the precedent. If there’s anybody that could influence the industry that had the power and the money.”
Red admitted to having never written any songs for Beyoncé because of how much music publishing the “Cuff It” singer allegedly takes. But she revealed the songs she’s written for Zendaya, Tamar Braxton, and Sevyn Streeter, noting how the latter’s song “hurt” Red considering Streeter is also a songwriter. However, Streeter received 10% publishing on the song Red claimed she wrote solely.
According to Red, “there is no A-list artist, B-list artist, or C-list artist that’s not taking publishing” since that is how “the music industry works.” She went on to name a few songs off the Renaissance album that Bey allegedly had no involvement in writing yet walked away with 25% publishing or more.
Red blamed NDAs for this and said the “Break My Soul” singer has her staff sign them, which forces them into silence and prevents them from speaking on topics of this type.
“She silences people so that people can’t speak,” Red said.
The songwriter attributed the “power dynamics” within the music industry that silences songwriters and allows publishing to be stolen, impacting the “livelihood” of songwriters and producers.
“Beyonce represents Black Excellence,” yet allegedly “exploits” the Black artists who are writing for her. Red says it’s “her people” who are primarily taking advantage of the songwriters.
“You know what your people do to you, the same thing those white people do to you,” she said.
In a since-deleted post, Red shared a text message screenshot where one songwriter accused Beyoncé and Usher of taking between 25% to 30% of publishing despite not writing a song.
No word from any of the chart-topping singers she called out, but Red appears to be standing 10 toes down in her claims.