West Australian singer and Australian Idol alum Reigan Derry has accused Melbourne-based DJ and producer Jolyon Petch of refusing to credit her on his track, ‘Dreams’, which was nominated for an ARIA award this year.
In an Instagram post published during Wednesday night’s awards, Reigan claimed that Petch released the track — which is a remixed cover of the Fleetwood Mac 1977 hit — without her consent and written agreement. She also claimed the producer blocked and deleted her from all social media platforms when she asked him to include her in the promotion of the single.
“I recorded ‘Dreams’ at my home studio at my dads (sic) house in Perth where I have slowly pieced together approximately $10,000 worth of equipment,” she wrote.
“When working on collaborations, my invoices for vocals mention that the fee is for DEMO only, and if the vocal is to be released, a separate agreement will have to be drawn and agreed upon. I have invoiced for more than 20 sessions this year alone. I’ve also signed just as many performer releases and agreement contracts.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/CWpqT1fJVOO/
Reigan went on to claim that she had verbally asked for a 10% ownership of the master recording, which she felt was “modest” considering she had previously signed an agreement with Petch for 20% on his track, ‘Holding On’, less than a month earlier. Reigan alleged that Petch refused her the 10% master, but might give her a “bonus” at the end of the year if the track performed well.
She alleged that Petch then released the remixed track through TMRW Music, without any further consultation with her, and without her formal consent to use her vocals in a written contract. Reigan claimed that this move is a clear copyright infringement committed by Jolyon Petch and the label.
“I am sick to death of people saying that this is my fault, and I should wear the greediness, misogyny, unfairness and lack of accountability of Petch and TMRW Music,” Reigan wrote.
Per NME, TMRW Music claimed that Reigan initially didn’t want to be named as a featured artist on the release, but was happy to be involved in its promotion as the track picked up traction in July.
“Reigan stated she was happy to be involved in promotion for the record and that it was in her best interest to do so, even though she didn’t want to put her name to the release originally,” the label’s statement read.
The label went on to say that they were informed by Petch’s team on November 12 — the same day ‘Dreams’ reached platinum status on the ARIA charts — that “an agreement had been reached between both parties’ legal teams” for Reigan to be featured and receive her share of the artist income from the release.
TMRW Music is still waiting for confirmation of this agreement so processes to include Reigan in the track’s credits can begin, and are “disappointed to hear that this is not the case.”
Jolyon Petch has since locked all his Instagram account, and per The Music Network, his team have refused to comment on the matter.
