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Travis Scott’s Label Owes Production Company $180K For “Wake Up” Video

Kanye West might have a point.

It’s no secret that record labels have been struggling in recent years as the industry changes and it’s even more commonly known that record labels are known to sometimes refrain from paying people for their work.

Now, Smuggler, the company that was hired by Epic Records to produce Travis Scott’s “Wake Up” music video, is filing a lawsuit against Epic claiming that the label still owes $187,255 that they are reportedly refusing to pay.

The entire cost for the video was $749,000. Epic reportedly tried to haggle the price down to $600,000 but seemingly conceded after paying the first instalment of $561,766. The label has yet to settle its bill with a second instalment and it’s saying it’s because they don’t like the video.

The label reportedly claimed that the video was missing effects that weren’t outlined in their contract and tried to get the agreement cancelled despite the fact that the video had been out for a month and that Scott’s team was unanimously happy with the results.

On top of that, Smuggler alleges that Epic is actively engaging in blacklisting them, “a fact the company discovered in August 2020 when directors “inexplicably pulled” out of two jobs that Smuggler was bidding for, the court documents claim.”

If you’re feeling nostalgic, you can check out the video in question below. Hopefully the production company gets what they’re owed for their good work.

[via]

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