Photo Credit: EVEN
Just last week, UMG announced a multi-year partnership with superfan app EVEN amid a discrimination lawsuit against the platform filed by a former executive.
Late last week, Universal Music Group (UMG) announced a multi-year partnership with EVEN.biz, a direct-to-consumer superfan app. But the move comes less than a week after a former EVEN executive sued the platform for discrimination and labor violations.
Industry exec and former EVEN employee Damien “DDot” Washington filed a lawsuit against the company in the Southern District of New York, alleging specific instances of conspiracy to commit violence against industry competitors, fraudulent data, unethical business practices, and more.
The lawsuit comes at a pivotal moment for EVEN, on which rapper and producer J. Cole launched the rollout for his new album, The Fall Off, in recent weeks. Additionally, artists like 21 Savage, Joji, Brent Faiyaz, and new Roc Nation signee LaRussell have all done business with EVEN as recently as last week. Moreover, J. Cole and LaRussell are both equity shareholders in the company.
“EVEN is a direct-to-consumer superfan app that enables artists to do pre-release campaigns prior to delivering their music to DSPs such as Spotify, YouTube, and Apple Music,” said DDot in an interview with World Music Views, explaining that EVEN is not meant to undercut other platforms.
“It’s more designed to supplement artists who maybe their reach doesn’t quite quantify on streaming platforms, but they still have a really solid, intense fan base.”
Artists can set their own prices for exclusive content and receive payments directly from fans. The partnership makes sense, given that UMG CEO Lucian Grainge has been focused on expansion into direct fan monetization.
But what about that lawsuit? Well, that’s where things get interesting.
Only days before EVEN and UMG put pen to paper, DDot’s name was added as a co-defendant to a lawsuit filed against EVEN by Babygrande Records. Strangely, DDot says he was “randomly added” because of his reach and his prior position as a company executive—but that might be because he’s also suing the company in a separate filing.
According to DDot’s claim, EVEN and its CEO, Enrique “Mag” Rodriguez, are accused of discrimination, retaliation, labor violations, and wrongful termination. The filing alleges that DDot was discriminated against “on the basis of his race and gender,” and was “deliberately misclassified as an independent contractor,” despite working full-time for the company. This, he says, deprived him of overtime pay, benefits, and other protections.
After he raised concerns, DDot asserts that the company retaliated by stripping him of his duties, denying him compensation, and ultimately firing him. He also says EVEN attempted to pin liability onto him, which is how his name ended up appearing as a co-defendant in the first lawsuit. This, he says, is why he filed his own lawsuit against the company.
He is seeking damages for lost wages, unpaid compensation, emotional distress, and other relief to be determined under federal and New York state law. DDot confirms he is currently defending himself while also pursuing his own lawsuit against the company.
On February 20, a federal judge ordered that a previously scheduled forensic search of DDot’s electronic devices (as part of the lawsuit in which he is a co-defendant) will proceed as planned on February 25. That’s despite a pending petition before the Second Circuit Court.
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