Atlantic Sues Stone Temple Pilots

Atlantic Records, a division of Warner Music Group, slapped popular ‘90s alternative rock band Stone Temple Pilots with a lawsuit yesterday, citing that the band has no right to end their contract early as they had previously been planning to do. Atlantic Records, a division of Warner Music Group, slapped popular ‘90s alternative rock band Stone Temple Pilots with a lawsuit yesterday, citing that the band has no right to end their contract early as they had previously been planning to do. The suit particularly took aim at flamboyant frontman Scott Weiland and drummer Eric Kretz, who both stated a refusal to continue their contracts unless Atlantic met their requests.

The anger behind Atlantic’s suit comes from the label’s desire to see STP, already having released six Atlantic albums, release up to three more albums during the duration of this contract. How many albums STP would have to release and when they would be released would be up to Atlantic, not the band.

Atlantic assumed this power over STP after seeing the guys reunited on tour (the band took a hiatus in 2002 due to Weiland’s constant drug abuse) and expressing a desire to possibly get in the studio again.

STP sees the move by Atlantic as another example of the music industry’s failure to appreciate healthy artist/label relations. In an email statement, the band said, “Should everyone operate in good faith, (STONE TEMPLE PILOTS) are certain that a new album from the band will be available soon. The precipitous filing of this action is yet another example of the difficulties facing artists in the new music environment, as relationships between artists and their labels fall further and further apart.”