As we all know, the record industry is shady.
According to an article in Rolling Stone, Summer Walker may have gotten the worst of that.
Walker dropped her sophomore album Still Over It last night.
We don't yet know how it's going to do. But whatever it does, Walker won't profit all that much.
Rolling Stone reports that Summer only got an 85K advance from her label/management company LNVR, who signed her in a joint venture with Interscope.
She just gets 15 percent of her royalties, doesn't own her masters, and is locked into a four-album deal.
"[Walker] is locked into a low royalty structure for what appears to be a somewhat indeterminate amount of time," said Peter Scoolidge, a tech and entertainment lawyer who reviewed the deal Walker agreed to. "She's also locked into giving [the label] a substantial percentage of any other money she makes from product endorsements, acting, etc. -- sources that are not music sales. On the other hand, as is typical in these deals, the record label isn't really obligated to invest a ton of money into her career, brand image, or music."
Experts say Walker's deal is really bad -- in an industry that often gives bad deals.