Artists in numbers condemn the methods of Ad Litteram collective.
Sink-or-Swim Missteps: A Tale of Turmoil Among Artists and Ad Litteram
Rocky relations, unpaid bills, and questionable accounting practices. Thirteen artists, including Catherine Major, Jeff Moran, Reney Ray, Angel Forrest, and Ricky Paquette, have come forward, voicing their discontent with Ad Litteram, a record label they have all cut ties or are in the process of leaving. Seven of them are planning lawsuits against the group.
Some artists have taken matters into their own hands, covering their musicians' fees. Others have lost valued collaborators and opportunities due to Ad Litteram's continual payment delays, while others found out their label had pilfered the royalties rightfully theirs.
"My trust has been violated," said Angel Forrest. Guillaume Lombart, Ad Litteram's CEO, had given her empty promises, false promises. She thought he was nurturing her career but instead, he fed her false hopes. As a 10-time Maple Blues Awards winner, Forrest is determined to ensure no other artist suffers as she did.
Reney Ray, a Franco-Ontarian artist, echoed similar sentiments. "I hope to get my albums back, my stuff back," she said, a two-time winner of the Francophone Songwriter of the Year Award at the Canadian Folk Music Awards.
An interview with Lombart was declined due to his demand for the artists' identities and the specifics of their allegations before sitting down for a conversation. Our site stands firmly behind protecting its sources from potential coercion, especially since some artists have recently been approached to resolve their disputes or received legal notices.
Also Worth a Peek: Artistic community reacts to allegations against Ad Litteram
A History of Late Payments
Founded in 1998 by Guillaume Lombart, Éditions Ad Litteram has grown to include ATMA Classique, Label Etiquette, and Culture Country. The group now acts as a record label, music publisher, talent management, and concert production company, receiving yearly subsidies that can surpass $1M.
Artists contacted by our site claim that Ad Litteram's late payments to collaborators have tarnished their reputations. "Three musicians ditched me because they got paid too late, and three others couldn't prioritize my project because they were waiting to get paid," said Ray. To protect her career, she ponied up $17k for performance fees and production costs herself, funds that, according to her contract, should've been covered by Ad Litteram.
"I ended up paying musicians and sound engineers out of my own pocket," said guitarist Ricky Paquette, whose latest album was released under the Ad Litteram label. "No one wanted to work with Guillaume or Ad Litteram anymore because it took months to get paid."
Though time-honored industry practice is to pay musicians on the day they perform, Ad Litteram'sPayment practices have left many artists high and dry, struggling month to month. One artist who preferred to remain anonymous, still bound by contract and fearing repercussions, said, "I've never seen such shoddy bookkeeping in my life!"
Fifteen collaborators of artists represented by Ad Litteram, including musicians, technicians, dancers, and directors, told our source about unacceptable or unjust late payments from the label. Drummer Maude Bastien, who worked with artist Mathieu Bérubé, finally received her fee after two months of relentless follow-ups. "I wrote every week, every day, and there was even one day when it was every hour."
"As a show producer, you're in charge," says Diane Hébert, an experienced tour organizer who herself had difficulties getting paid while working with Ad Litteram and decided to cut ties with the group. "The numbers should be clear. It's not complicated – it's revenue from ticket sales, then royalties, and you pay the people who worked on the show. It's not as if we're dealing with year-end finances!"
Two months after shooting a music video for Éléonore Lacasse, choreographer Samuel Chouinard had to confront Lombart face-to-face to ensure his dancers were paid. After Lombart boasted about his business success, Chouinard suggested he compensate his dancers for the delay in their fee. In response, Lombart allegedly carelessly waved around a bill, a gesture Chouinard found disrespectful. "I won't be willing to work with you if it's tough to get paid," Chouinard said, with his dancers eventually being compensated after the incident.
Unclaimed Royalties
Catherine Major, the first artist to sign a contract with ATMA's neo-classical branch, Alisma, alleged that Ad Litteram falsely declared the editing rights of her album "La mémoire du corps" as their own, despite those rights belonging entirely to her. Though the sums in question may not be substantial, the principle at stake is crucial. "It's not just about the money; it's about the right to act on the work." fears Major, who is taking steps to correct the situation with the management society.
Angel Forrest, who joined Ad Litteram in 2016 and released four of her eleven albums with them, has also experienced similar issues. Last week, Forrest and her partner, musician Denis Coulombe, discovered that Ad Litteram had declared they owned 50% of the copyrights of three of her last four albums instead of the 33.3% agreed upon in their co-editing contract. Furthermore, the label claimed 33.3% of the rights to around twenty pieces for which no contract had been signed. "We felt betrayed by someone we thought was a friend," said Coulombe.
Reney Ray also claims that according to their contracts for her second album, they were allegedly "jointly holders" of the rights reserved for the producer of the disk 'À l'Ouest du réel' and shared the revenues equally (50-50). However, on her account with the Society for the Collective Management of the Rights of Phonogram and Videogram Producers in Quebec (SOPROQ), the share declared by the publisher is only 25%. Ray has taken steps to rectify the situation with the society.
The Veil of Secrecy
The artists interviewed by our source denounce the lack of transparency in Ad Litteram's accounting practices. Most of them had to repeatedly pursue Lombart to obtain expense reports and statements for their projects and subsidy administration. These reports were expected to be provided two to four times a year, according to contracts viewed by our site.
Angel Forrest has only received one inaccurate and incomplete report during her over seven years of association with Ad Litteram. "He sent us a 14-page document, supposed to cover seven years of production of shows and albums. I have more pages than that in the annual financial statements of my small company," Denis Coulombe is baffled.
The deteriorating relationship between Ray and Ad Litteram stemmed from her requests for accounts due to unpaid tour invoices. "In six years, I've never had any profits from shows or reports, whereas according to my show contract, I should have 50% of the profits," she laments. In January 2023, she launched an audit of her files, claiming she was kept "in the darkest darkness, both on the subsidies obtained and on the expenses charged to her musical project," as stated in one of the legal notices sent to Ad Litteram. A mediation was then initiated between the two parties, with both agreeing to end their business relationship: Ray would be able to recover the rights to her albums and leave Ad Litteram, and the accounts would be reset to zero. However, the mediation agreement was never signed, and Ray is currently taking legal action against Ad Litteram.
In retrospect, Ray feels she was taken advantage of by Lombart. "You can say that I was a 'nice idiot' and it's true, unfortunately. I'm not very proud of it, but he really took advantage of my naivety."
Jeff Moran, a long-time collaborator of Guillaume Lombart, ended their partnership in July 2024. In almost 20 years of professional relationship with Lombart, Moran has never received any reports, which would have allowed him to verify if certain amounts were due to him. "I no longer think it's just poor management or misplaced ambition. It's serious, it's big manipulation."
Who Manages Musical Royalties?
In Quebec, musical royalties are managed by several organizations, including the Society of Composers, Authors, and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN) and the Society for the Management of Collective Rights of Phonogram and Videogram Producers of Quebec (SOPROQ). SOCAN handles the rights of performance and reproduction for composers, authors, and publishers, whereas SOPROQ represents music producers. These organizations collect royalties from music users (radios, televisions, streaming services, etc.) and distribute them to rights holders. The distribution of these royalties is stipulated in contracts between the artists, publishers, and distributors.
- Despite their hopes for careers nurtured by Ad Litteram, artists like Angel Forrest and Reney Ray found their trust violated by the label's empty promises and false accounting practices, leading to disputes and legal measures.
- The music industry's late payments issue, as demonstrated by Ad Litteram, has rippled through the artistic community, affecting collaborators such as musicians, technicians, and dancers, who struggle with financial hardship due to delayed payments.
- With the emergence of royalties mismanagement allegations and concerns over shoddy bookkeeping, the financial stability of several artists under Ad Litteram's management, including Angel Forrest, Catherine Major, and Reney Ray, has been compromised, putting their careers and livelihoods at risk.
