Sony Reportedly Severs Ties With Dr. Luke Before His Contract Expires

Sony Music will be dropping Dr. Luke. The alleged drop is partly due to Dr. Luke and musician Kesha’s court battles during the last few months before the trial will begin. The professional relationship between Sony and Dr. Luke might reach an ealry end with his terminated contract, but this terminated relationship with Dr. Luke’s production company and the music label does not affect the contract signed by Kesha between Dr. Luke.

The contract between Dr. Luke and Sony was a signed deal for working with Sony for five-years, which it was signed back in 2011 and then the contract would expire in 2017. But the reason why Sony wants to end the contract between the company and Dr. Luke is partly due to the fact that the court battles between the producer and Kesha are being told as a “public relations headache.” A spokesperson for Sony has denied any comment on the ordeal. So far, according to The Wrap, New York’s State Supreme Court has sided with Sony so far, given a lack of evidence to support the claims, but the public relations nightmare has internally been deemed not worth the hassle.” “The fact that this hasn’t already been taken care of with Luke is confusing, especially for people in the building,” said an anonymous source to The Wrap.

CEO Doug Morris and his boss, Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton, are unsure how to end the relationship with Dr. Luke. But the negative publicity coming from these court battles is not worth the chance that Sony wishes to take if they choose to keep Dr. Luke, hence why the company has decided to terminate the relationship one year ahead of the contract’s expiration date. Any unilateral dissolution of the contract would be a direct breach, so a negotiated exit helps save face on both sides. During the reported termination of Dr. Luke’s contract the question also comes into play about what would happen to his other musicians. 27-year-old rapper Lunchmoney Lewis is one of the other signed musicians to Dr. Luke’s record company.

UPDATE (3/9/2016):
An attorney for Dr. Luke commented to EW that the rumored end to Sony Music’s relationship with Dr. Luke is a false claim. “This is not true. Luke has an excellent relationship with Sony,” said Dr. Luke’s attorney, ” His representatives are in regular contact with executives at the highest levels at Sony and this has never come up.”