Journalist Ian Urbina issues apology but denies 'scamming' artists with The Outlaw Ocean Music Project

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  • In a video posted last week, US producer Benn Jordan accused the former New York Times writer of exploiting dozens of artists for financial gain.
  • Journalist Ian Urbina issues apology but denies 'scamming' artists with The Outlaw Ocean Music Project image
  • Journalist Ian Urbina has issued an apology to the more than 450 artists participating in The Outlaw Ocean Music Project. Launched in 2020, the project tasked producers with writing music inspired by Urbina's journalism series and eventual book, The Outlaw Ocean. The producers could use field recordings captured by Urbina at sea. Many electronic artists contributed, including KMRU, Appleblim and Klangkarussell. The FAQs page on the project's website outlines two key aims: "to disseminate the journalism through non-news-media channels such as music platforms, ideally to reach a younger and more global audience" and to "fund more reporting using streaming revenue derived from the music." In the apology, Urbina admitted that he, his Synesthesia Media label and a subcontractor had "failed" to "communicate with [artists] fully, ensure they get royalty statements and paid on time, answer their questions quickly [...] I apologize unequivocally." The apology was posted earlier today, December 7th, via the label's official Twitter account. It was the third statement from the label since December 6th. Urbina, however, rejected accusations levelled at him in the past week that the project had been a "scam" and that he, through the label, had been exploiting artists for financial gain. In another statement, titled "Collection of Artist Royalties," the label said it had received "around $29,000" in royalties up to June 2021 and all that money had gone back into the project. "I've never made a cent from the music nor would I as that's not the project's purpose," Urbina's apology continued. The scamming allegations first surfaced on December 2nd in a 20-minute video hosted by US electronic producer, and contributor to The Outlaw Ocean Music Project, Benn Jordan. In the video, which one of the Synesthesia Media statements called "inaccurate," Jordan heavily criticised the project's business model. He said that Urbina offset the lack of upfront payment by offering possible promotional opportunities with Spotify, Netflix and US publishing house Knopf, none of which, Jordan said, ever materialised. Jordan also criticised the role of Synesthesia Media, which Urbina said would distribute the music to streaming services in return for 50 percent of revenue. In addition, Urbina would be credited alongside the artists, despite not writing any music and only contributing optional field recordings. (Urbina currently has 683,000 monthly listeners on Spotify.) "Your innovative music-meets-journalism vision worked out quite well—but only for you," Jordan said. At another point in the video, Jordan questioned whether The Outlaw Ocean Project was a real non-profit organisation, saying it "certainly wasn't a 501(c)(3)"—the legal status belonging to non-profits in the USA. Synesthesia Media refuted this allegation in its first statement, confirming that the "non-profit is registered under the name The OO Project Inc." All three statements from Urbina and Synesthesia Media confirmed that, since the backlash, the participating artists in the project had been offered the chance to keep their streaming revenue in full or, alternatively, have their music removed and returned to them altogether. "With regards to past royalties and statements, however, Synesthesia is unfortunately powerless right now—and this is why lawyers are involved—to provide any information because Synesthesia doesn't have it," the second statement added. "We genuinely apologize for this predicament." Read the three statements from Synesthesia Media, watch Jordan's video and listen to our RA Exchange with Urbina from earlier this year.
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