Owning one’s masters is becoming increasingly rare in the music industry; usually, singers will sign the rights of their music over to a record label. This means that the record label company(s) a singer is signed to can make a profit off their songs. I bet by now you’re wondering if Dua Lipa owns her masters.
Dua Lipa has signed record labels with Warner Records and Vertigo Records, so it’s not likely that she owns her masters. In her chart-topping hit New Rules, Warner Music is the owner of the masters to the song.
Read on to find out more about Dua’s management team and the companies Dua’s signed record deals with.
Lipa’s Record Labels
Throughout her career spanning across five years so far, Lipa has worked with two record labels. Warner Records and Vertigo Records.
Before Lipa signed a record deal with Warner Records, she signed a contract with Taps Management while she was working as a waitress in a bar. Once she had signed a contract with Taps Management, she quit her job and began focusing on her true destiny – music.
Warner Records
Founded in 1958, Warner Records is a subsidiary of Warner Music Group and operates as the recorded music division of the American film studio Warner Bros.
Lipa has been signing record deals with Warner Records since the start of her music career.
Warner Records appear on the record label for most of the star’s popular albums, including her most recent album Future Nostalgia. They appear on other albums too, including her self-titled album Dua Lipa which was released in 2017.
Warner Records have ownership rights over Lipa’s third EP, entitled The Only, which was also released in 2017. It was a limited edition vinyl record consisting of five tracks; four were pre-recorded while the remaining song was an exclusive. There were only 1500 copies made of this EP.
Vertigo Records
Founded in 1969 as a subsidiary of the Philips record label, Vertigo Records operates in the United Kingdom and specializes in progressive rock and other non-mainstream music styles.
Vertigo Records have shared ownership over Dua’s self-titled album Dua Lipa – but they do not have ownership rights on any of Dua’s other albums. It appears Vertigo Records was a one-off record deal for Dua.
Lipa’s Management
TaP Music is the company that represents the likes of Dua Lipa, Hailee Steinfield, Ellie Goulding and Lana Del Rey. Lipa’s manager is Ben Mawson, a co-founder of TaP Music. TaP is a company that works globally with artists, specializing in management, records, and publishing.
It was during Lipa’s writing sessions with TaP before she started working with them that her single Hotter Than Hell was created.
It appears that Lipa has some true talent in the industry. Talking about his experience of working alongside Lipa, Mawson said:
“We’ve seen artists who might get half a good song out of 10 writing sessions; with Dua, one in five or one in four is a banger. She gets results out of other people as well, because her personality is so engaging and she is so charismatic. She definitely has that special something.”
Lipa also works with Ed Millet, who’s the other co-founder of TaP Music. Mawson and Millet seem to agree on one thing: Dua has taken the music industry by storm.
Speaking of Lipa’s wins at the BRIT awards, Millet said:
“I wasn’t that surprised because [Dua] has just eclipsed everyone. This time last year we were scoping out the competition like, Who is there? […] She has left everyone in her wake and that’s partly because she’s worked so hard and is always looking to improve. Every day she gets better which is why things have moved really quickly for her.”