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Donald Glover and Glassnote Records Settle Childish Gambino Royalties Dispute

NEW YORK, NY - AUGUST 23: Donald Glover speaks onstage at the "Atlanta" New York Screening at The Paley Center for Media on August 23, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Neilson Barnard/Getty Images)

Last September, Donald Glover filed a lawsuit against his label Glassnote Records, who released three of his Childish Gambino albums. The lawsuit grew out of a royalties dispute between the two parties, with Glover claiming that the label owed him more than $10,000 in streaming royalties. Now the lawsuit has been settled outside of court, as Variety and Pitchfork report.

In addition to the $10,000 dispute, the initial suit claimed that the label had been miscalculating payments in ways that directly breached their signed contract. The lawsuit alleges breach of contract, good faith, fair dealing, and fiduciary duty, as well as negligence. The lawsuit follows a complaint filed by the label in July over an alleged $700,000 in streaming royalties that the company never received payment on.

“Donald Glover made a claim that he was owed 95% of SoundExchange royalties when we are legislatively and contractually required to share those royalties 50/45,” a spokesperson for Glassnote shared in a statement with Pitchfork. “We are not asking for anything back from Donald Glover, just that we are able to retain the monies that are contractually and legally ours and that have already been paid to us.”

According to a stipulation of voluntary dismissal filed in court on Friday, both Glover and Glassnote have dropped the dispute, which was settled outside of court for an undisclosed sum.

Glover released three studio albums with the label including 2011’s Camp, 2013’s Because of the Internet, and 2016’s “Awaken, My Love!”. In 2018, he signed a deal with RCA. Earlier this year, Glover’s single “This Is America” won Grammy Awards for Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance, and Best Music Video.