In August it appeared as though the saga between Martin Garrix and his former label and management group, Spinnin' Records and MusicAllStars Management respectively, had been settled. However in a new statement released by Spinnin' it appears there are still some serious differences between the two sides and their views on the contracts signed by the two parties.
According to the new statement, obtained by Dancing Astronaut, who do not provide a link and make a few grammatical corrections for readability purposes, Spinnin' and Martin Garrix originally agreed that they would continue their collaboration managing, releasing and distributing the Dutchman's music until July 1, 2017. That was until Garrix "unilaterally ended their collaboration" with the Facebook post in August.
"MAS would take care of management until at least 1 July 2017. And Spinnin' Records would exclusively release and exploit all tracks of Martijn Garritsen until that date," says the label.
Spinnin' maintains there was no foul play in getting the youngster to sign this contract, which happens all to often in the music industry. They maintain that Garrix's father, Gerard Garritsen who is a "very experienced business man" was involved and before signing on with Spinnin' officially in 2012, they shopped around various labels.
They maintain that they have been trying to negotiate in good faith with Garrix this whole time.
"From early 2015 we have freely spoken with Martijn Garritsen about his wish to re-negotiate the existing contracts and in our vision, improper arguments were used to put pressure on the discussions. It was even mentioned 'fraud' had been used by us to move Martijn Garritsen to close contracts with us in 2012. Of course we completely disagree; Martijn Garritsen, his father Gerard Garritsen, a very experienced business man, and their team have always let themselves be advised, have widely researched the market and shopped around for deals and always had time and room for negotiation to come to well considered decisions. Moreover all agreements have been negotiated in detail and were also signed by father Gerard Garritsen."
Spinnin' falls back on the point that contracts need to be respected regardless of the situation after they are signed.
"We do not blame Martijn Garritsen, but this does not mean that he could unilaterally end or nullify all existing contracts," the statement reads. "Contracts are contracts and need to be respected."
Spinnin' then curiously enough comes to the conclusion that both parties have now agreed upon allowing the label to release his records until 2023. We will see if that holds up or just remains another sticking point between these two parties.
Spinnin' is seeking legal compensation for the breach of contract by Garrix when he nullified the contract with the label and MAS. "No hard feelings, but we do want to be compensated - nothing more, nothing less. That is part of a decent and professional settlement of what was a successful relationship."
