Jonny McBee, singer for metalcore band The Browning, has accused Earache Records of owing them royalties and keeping their music off streaming platforms. Earache put out two of their albums, Burn This World (2011) and Hypernova (2013). 

The accusation came in response to a tweet made by Earache calling for support for musicians since they’ve been unable to perform on stages the past six months. Earache’s tweet has since been removed. McBee also included a screenshot showing that Earache has blocked him on Twitter. 

Since @earacherecords is so now concerned about the well being of musicians, why don’t you all ask if they can give the rights to all the bands music they removed for no reason. Or are they going to continue adding to the problem of instability and greed within the industry. pic.twitter.com/NaJRkqFkaW

— Jonny McBee (@jonnymcbee) September 24, 2020

@thebrowningband music has been removed from the internet for 4 years and they haven’t paid me back due royalties. But wait, I’ll let y’all grand stand about the betterment of musicians??? YOU ARE ONE OF THE PROBLEMS pic.twitter.com/GbizRbGUE1

— Jonny McBee (@jonnymcbee) September 24, 2020

McBee initially asked why Earache continued to keep Burn This World and Hypernova off the internet, later elaborating to say they’ve been removed from the services for the last four years with no reason given. The Browning switched to Spinefarm Records in 2016, who released their last two albums and uploaded them to streaming. 

Yo @EaracheRecords you know what would really help with the instability of my career? If you paid me the back royalties you owed me. I lost so much due to COVID and haven’t been able to finish my little house for my family to live in. Sure would help if you paid whats owed.

— Jonny McBee (@jonnymcbee) September 24, 2020

I know its a wayyyy smaller scale, but @kanyewest is trying to change the industry in favor of the artists. The metal scene needs these changes as well. Artists of ALL sizes are being taken advantage of.

— Jonny McBee (@jonnymcbee) September 24, 2020

In further tweets in the thread, McBee also brought up the unpaid royalties allegation and talked about needing the money. He mentioned that he’s lost a lot of money due to COVID-19 and wanted to be able to finish building a small house for his family to live in. 

exactly. The first 2. I toured for 250 days a year for YEARS promoting and pushing those records for them to just remove them.

— Jonny McBee (@jonnymcbee) September 24, 2020

The band is now old enough that A LOT of people come up and talk to me about how they listened to our first albums through middle / high school. @EaracheRecords have removed the ability for people to experience nostalgia with something they loved growing up.

— Jonny McBee (@jonnymcbee) September 24, 2020

Later, McBee continued to say The Browning toured 250 days a year for many years so he could promote those two albums. He stated that he’s had many fans who grew attached to the records during middle school or high school reach out to him, and that he wished he could let them relive the nostalgia.

Apparently, The Browning first brought up these allegations early in 2019. “For whatever reason they decided to take them down, and as we don’t see royalties from those anyway, they are doing nothing but shooting themselves in the foot to spite us, and to spite you, our fans who enjoy those albums.” 

The Browning continued, “We have tried to reach out to no avail, and they have blocked us on both the band pages, and our personal pages on social media. There is not a lot we can do about it, as they have the legal precedent to do what they want with the albums they own.”

Former Earache band Decapitated also faced a similar situation with the label back in 2016. Decapitated alleged that “Earache would rather waste time and money being obstructive and uncooperative instead of simply paying their bands what is due.”