John Washington III Tells Spotify His Answer on Remixes of His Label's Masters Is “a Big, Fat No”

John Washington III, a candidate for president in 2028 and the owner of American King Records, rejected any arrangement that would let a streaming platform negotiate deals for other people to remix his artists' music. “Spotify, my answer is a big no,” he wrote, adding: “Spotify is not my record company.”

John Washington III said he did not build his record label, invest his money, develop his artists and create his music catalog so that a streaming platform could negotiate how other people use the label's master recordings. If another artist wants to remix, sample or commercially use one of those recordings, he wrote, there is a proper way to conduct business: “You come to the record company.” He said a deal is negotiated with American King Records, with the upfront payment, royalties, ownership and terms of use discussed directly.

He said he is not interested in handing over control of the masters in exchange for what he called “some undisclosed streaming royalty that might amount to fractions of a penny,” and he framed the question as one of ownership for artists and independent labels generally. “Your music is an asset. Your master recordings are property. Your rights have value,” he wrote, arguing that technology making a remix easier does not mean a label should surrender control over how its recordings are used, and that a platform's size does not entitle it to replace the record label or dictate the value of the label's intellectual property.

John Washington III closed by stating his label's position as three prohibitions and one invitation: no unauthorized remixes of the label's masters, no third-party licensing of the masters without the label's approval, and no giving away control of the catalog “for pennies” — but anyone who wants to do business should come to the record company and negotiate. “Our music. Our masters. Our rights. Our decision,” he wrote.