Interscope sues Summer Walker for $50m over albums it says she owes
Interscope Records is suing Summer Walker for more than $50 million over music it says she still owes the label.
The complaint was filed on 9 October in Los Angeles County Superior Court. It claims Walker delivered only three of the five albums required under her recording contract, leaving two albums and an EP outstanding. The final sum would be set at trial.
The case turns on timing. Walker signed a joint deal with Interscope and LVRN in 2017, according to Music Business Worldwide. Her lawyers notified the label in August that she would stop working under the agreement as of 27 August. She invoked California's seven-year statute, the state law that generally prevents a company from enforcing a personal-services contract after seven years from signing.
Interscope argues the contract still has years to run in terms of music owed. The three albums it counts toward the five-album commitment are 2019's Over It, 2021's Still Over It and 2025's Finally Over It. Still Over It reached No. 1 on the Billboard 200, the United States albums chart, while Over It and Finally Over It each peaked at No. 2.
Two earlier releases do not count, the label says. Walker's 2018 mixtape Last Day of Summer and her 2019 EP CLEAR are classed as pre-album projects that sit outside the five-album total.
LVRN, which signed Walker alongside Interscope in 2017, has since exited the joint venture it operated with Interscope. Interscope is now pursuing the claim alone. The total is not fixed. The label is seeking damages of more than $50 million for the missing recordings.
Both sides have stated their positions through representatives. An Interscope spokesperson said the label sued because a statutory deadline required it to act to preserve the terms of its contract, while adding that it hoped for an amicable resolution, as reported by Billboard. Walker's attorney, Keith Moten, said she will defend against the claims vigorously and plans to file a countersuit against the label.
For listeners, this means the dispute is about what comes next rather than the three albums already released. The court will have to decide whether Walker's seven-year notice ends her obligations, or whether Interscope is still owed two albums and an EP.
