SA: ‘Ambitiouz gave Amanda Black an advance’

The Sunday Sun wrote that Ambitiouz Entertainment owed the Xhosa singer about R965 000 ($70 000) and a R200 000 cash prize for winning the Listeners Choice and Best R&B awards at the 2017 Metros.

The amount owed by the label was determined from a gig and event report that the record label sent the artist last year.

“The defendant in March provided the plaintiff with a bookings report reflecting bookings of previous months, which includes a split of the plaintiff’s performance fees to cater for permissible deductions, management commission and the amount due to the plaintiff," an affidavit filed at the South Gauteng High Court with the assistance of the singer's lawyer, Zola Majava, reads.

The affidavit also says that Ambitiouz Entertainment received 100% of Amanda Black's performance fees without paying the artist since December.

A source at the record label who did not want to be named told Music In Africa that Amanda Black had signed an exclusive deal with Ambitiouz.

"She received R50 000 of the money from the Metros," the source said. "This is because she signed a 360 deal. That money was used to pay distributors, studio time and PR, among other things. Her contract included an advance. Ambitiouz was paying itself back for the investment that it made.”

The source said the singer had disagreements with her managers at the label and began handling her own bookings.

“Amanda Black had been having issues with management since last year. Her management was inconsistent with her bookings. Sometimes they would let her get booked for R5 000 and other times she’d be booked for R50 000 and she wasn’t happy about that. Sometimes she would get booked to play in clubs and taverns that she simply refused to perform in.”

On 18 June, Amanda Black announced that a new management company would assist her to reach new audiences beyond South Africa. A few days later, her publicist, Bonnie Meslane, contradicted the announcement. "Amanda is still looking around, having meetings with potential managers and nothing has been confirmed as yet," she said.

Meslane was elusive when Music In Africa attempted to get a comment about the latest development.

Amanda Black's former label mate, Fifi Cooper, who had been at loggerheads with Ambitiouz Entertainment since November 2017, settled out of court last week after the label had barred her from performing the music she recorded with the company. The settlement sees the motswako rapper free to perform or release her music.