Adult Mom Accuses Indie Label Tiny Engines of Breach of Contract
Photo by Daniel Dorsa
Stevie Knipes, who performs as Adult Mom, accused indie label Tiny Engines of breach of contract on Saturday via an extensive Twitter thread, stating that the label has withheld royalty statements and payments. Adult Mom has been a part of the Tiny Engines roster since 2015. According to Knipe, though their two-LP contract included a stipulation that the label must “supply royalty statements twice a year” and follow up with payment, Tiny Engines failed to send any statements until May of 2018 after sustained pressure from Knipe and their manager. The statement showed that Tiny Engines owed Knipe close to $8,000, which was paid out seven months later in December of 2018.
Knipe says that the situation did not improve following the December 2018 payout:
Since then, they have been sporadic and irresponsible with payment schedules and statements. I have had to remind them frequently for payments and statements, and furthermore have had to convince them to do second pressings of our records that were out of stock.
— adult mom (@adultmomband) November 9, 2019
Citing multiple breaches of contract, Knipe went to the owners of Tiny Engines, Chuck Daley and Will Miller, to regain control of their masters, which contractually belong to the label. Knipe alleges that Daley’s response was “unprofessional” and “manipulative,” and they followed up by sending an official breach of contract notice to the label:
I decided to work hard to get control and ownership of my masters back. I had hoped that because Tiny Engines has clearly been in the wrong that they would comply easily. They did not.
— adult mom (@adultmomband) November 9, 2019
My conversation with chuck was one of the most unprofessional encounters I have ever had in my life. Chuck laughed in my face after I asked for my masters back. He said that there was no way that would happen, but he’d give the email a “look” from my legal team
— adult mom (@adultmomband) November 9, 2019
He proceeded to stress that I had no grounds to ask for this unreasonable request. I told him that he was being unprofessional and manipulative by attempting to guilt me by using his home and children. He also stated that it would affect the “smaller bands” on the label.
— adult mom (@adultmomband) November 9, 2019
Our demands have been simple. Because the contract is breached it is no longer valid, thus all physical and digital ownership must go into my control. Tiny Engines have not responded to my team and continue to ignore our requests, which to me, are incredibly reasonable
— adult mom (@adultmomband) November 9, 2019
“I am certain and it has been confirmed that there are at LEAST 10 other bands on this label that have experienced this or something similar,” added Knipe. “It is an abuse of power. It is an epidemic. It is a diseased label. These artists deserve so much more respect.” Knipe has been met with an outpouring of support from other artists, including former Tiny Engines signees Mannequin Pussy and Cayetana, and current Tiny Engines signee Thelma:
This all sounds very familiar. https://t.co/5gcrrU2NPn
— MANNEQUIN PUSSSY (@mannequinpussy) November 9, 2019
Jumping back on here to say we 100% support and empathize with adult mom. This is exactly the reason we saved our money and self released new kind of normal. Fuck this shit. https://t.co/aAUj4vnIKj
— Cayetana (@CayetanaPhilly) November 10, 2019
Read this thread. I’ve been toos cared to say it. I felt bad because I do believe there are nice people involved in the label, but I had similar experience with owner Chuck who literally said that he couldn’t give me my contractual advance because of my medical issues https://t.co/YhWcYr0Tih
— Thelma (@thelma_lalala) November 9, 2019
Anyways- I believe in forgiveness within reason. I hope @tinyengines apologizes, specifically Chuck who has said horrible things to me, @adultmomband & others. They should pay what’s owed to all bands & amend all contracts from permanent ownership to temporary licensing deals.
— Thelma (@thelma_lalala) November 9, 2019
Hey @tinyengines – you fucked up. Give @adultmom their fucking masters back. https://t.co/fAl3DEiKk0
— Jeff Rosenstock (@jeffrosenstock) November 10, 2019
Huge respect and solidarity to Stevie for speaking out on their label’s refusal to fulfil their side of contractual obligations. This is way more common than it should be https://t.co/6M7MNzCMwz
— Los Campesinos! (@LosCampesinos) November 9, 2019
whoa this sucks. power 2 u
— palehound (@Palehound) November 9, 2019
wow this is so fucked, so so sorry you’re going thru this
— diet cig (@dietcig) November 9, 2019
I’m so sorry.
— Lydia Loveless (@lydia_loveless) November 9, 2019
Christian Holden of The Hotelier, another Tiny Engines signee, offered his perspective on the situation, with a response from Knipe:
Some Tiny Engines thoughts for those following the Adult Mom tread:
1. Tiny Engines is two people, Chuck and Will, that duties are distributed between. Chuck is in charge of finances and is, imo, more a mess than a crook.
— Christian Holden (@moldyfish) November 9, 2019
3. And so in choosing to work with a label who does not have a 40 person staff and a successful back catalog, SOME amount of missing the mark should be calculated in on the artist’s end. Rigidness scarcity capitalism =/= the dream work
— Christian Holden (@moldyfish) November 9, 2019
5. There is a bit of paranoia in artists about them being taken advantage of. There is at least 100 reasons for this, most of them fair. But the amount of times I’ve seen an artist act unfairly, myself included, out of this fear towards the people that work with/for them is high.
— Christian Holden (@moldyfish) November 9, 2019
7. I say 1-6 not to counter OP. Adult Mom should be paid, Chuck fucked up and owes them the ability to null their contract and have their masters. AM should be able to expect what they agreed to.
— Christian Holden (@moldyfish) November 9, 2019
Literally my friend sent me this thread and I’m unblocking to say this: 90% of this makes no sense. get my fucking band name out of your mouth. You are complicit and one of the worst people I have ever met in this industry. hope you never think or talk about me ever again xo
— adult mom (@adultmomband) November 10, 2019
Knipe has offered the following alternative avenues to fans hoping to support Adult Mom outside of Tiny Engines, and promised a new album coming next spring:
ways to support adult mom without supporting tiny engines:
Buy our EP:https://t.co/5QXiLLXEc4
Come to a show/buy merch here: https://t.co/NgdAyEGn7b
Patreon: https://t.co/x6uESUvsET
PayPal: [email protected]
Venmo: Stephanie-knipe
— adult mom (@adultmomband) November 9, 2019
ps: new record spring 2020 dykes! https://t.co/eY620okiTa
— adult mom (@adultmomband) November 10, 2019
See Adult Mom’s full Twitter thread here and stay tuned for further updates on the situation. Tiny Engines has not responded to a request for comment from Paste at this time.
Update, Nov. 25: On Nov. 15, Knipes tweeted an update that they had heard back from Tiny Engines and received an updated statement and confirmation that they would turn over Adult Mom’s masters:
hey hot update
just got an email from TE saying that they’re giving me my masters back and sent me an updated accounting statement
if anyone wants to pour champagne on my entire body LMK
— adult mom (@adultmomband) November 16, 2019;
It appears that they have officially parted ways, as Adult Mom’s music is no longer available on the Tiny Engines website or Bandcamp. Here’s hoping Knipes got that champagne.
Tiny Engines has otherwise been laying low, to the point of leaving bands with new releases to fend for themselves: Christopher Adams of Pendant reported that he was “doing his best” to promote his own record, Nov. 8’s Through a Coil. Long Neck have also spoken to the uncertainty of their future with the label.