A few days ago, while Burgerkill was performing on a TV show, the Ripple Magazine Twitter account tweeted this:
23.. #BURGERKILL | What allowed them to escape a 6-album contract with Sony BMG was sheer ‘Intention’ — a relentless drive to break free.
— RIPPLE Magazine 1999 (@ripple_magazine) April 11, 2012
Hmm. Something didn’t sit right with me. Breaking a contract takes a lot more than just intention. So I replied:
“mm… it’s not that simple, it’s a bloody fight. But together, they eventually pulled it off.”
And Ripple responded:
“True — but the foundation is still intention, right?”
Here’s the thing: intention alone doesn’t break a contract. To actually exit a record deal, you need to fulfill specific legal and financial conditions.
In Burgerkill’s case with Sony BMG — from what I know — they had to buy out the remaining albums on their contract. That means paying back the label for whatever advance or investment hadn’t been recouped yet.
There are generally a few ways a band can exit a major label deal:
- Buy out the contract — pay back what’s owed, fulfill remaining obligations financially.
- Mutual agreement — both parties agree to part ways. This sometimes happens when a label drops an artist who’s no longer commercially viable to them.
- Legal breach — if the label fails to fulfill its contractual obligations (promotions, distribution, advances), the artist may have legal grounds to exit.
- Contract expiry — simply waiting for the contract term to end without renewing.
The point is: you can’t just “will” your way out of a major label contract. It requires legal understanding, financial readiness, and usually, a good music lawyer. Intention is the starting point — but it’s definitely not the finish line.