Complaint Review: TMG Inc. Tate Music Group - Internet

A complaint has been filed against Tate Music Group with the Office of Attorney General in the state of Oklahoma. The case number is CC-13-0309. Please call their office at (405) 521-3921 to join the complaint, and let the Attorney there know if you have also been ripped off by Tate Music Group.

Mr. Finch we think you are making fraudulent and false statements. I reviewed the artists email from you and others at TMG and see the artists is telling the truth here, and you sir are not. This artists signed a contract with your company to mix and master.

1. Tate Music Group engineers accepted the artists master recordings and state so, in writing, in September 2012, that they are within correct guide lines and are able to be mixed. They are simple wave files, & properly formatted, and your engineers agreed to this. They originated in a standard pro-tools 9 system, and were transferred exactly as your engineers requested into standard wave files, all individual tracks were consolidated properly.

2. After listening to the master recordings, Mr. Don Johnson, TMG chief producer, stated in writing he did not know how to pick the correct vocal tracks or background vocal tracks. He did not state there was any problems with them at all, but that "he did not know how" to pick. This is the producers responsibility, and the mix engineers job. It is your responsibility as the label to ensure this is done, or hire a free lance producer or mixer if you cannot accomplish the task with in house staff. Everyone in the industry knows this to be your responsibility as the label. How do you not realize this Mr. Finch? This suggests you may not really be as qualified as you claim to be.

3. We see the artists has requested in writing for you and TMG to produce any guide line that has been violated. But we clear seee you have not provided any. It seems like you are lying about this.

We feel you don't have the capability to produce material with lots of background vocals. That is the only problem I can see that exists in this situation. We see there are also many other bands and individuals that are saying the same or similar bad things about your company.

If you can't produce finished works from standard multi-track masters, this is clearly your and Tate Music Groups responsibility. The production is your responsibility after the artists is done recording, and your own engineers accept the masters.  

It looks like Tate Music Group is making up false allegations months after the fact to cover up your own inability to mix vocals properly.

If another producer has been able to mix the exact same masters from this artist well, this is clearly a problem with your mixing capability at Tate Music Groups own studio. There is now way around this conclusion. To blame this on the artists is childish and immature. You should be ashamed of yourself. You should just refund their money.

Now is your chance to answer these questions;

 What guide line that you claim is or isn't in the contract, that the artist did not follow, that caused Tate Music Group to not be able to produce finished works?

Why did Tate Music Group not just hire a free lance producer or mixer, if you could not mix or master properly with in house staff?

Allen Finch is a liar, and unfamiliar with the facts of the case. Kyle Carter was the A&R agent who handled this artist. These facts are false as claimed by Mr. Finch, and are going to be used as evidence in the claim of fraud against Tate Music Group.

1. Tate Music Groups attorney has been asked to produce the so call submission "guide lines", but never has. There is and never has been guide lines give to the artist. The contract clearly states only what is written can be substance to the contract. It is stated in the contract what is accepted. The imaginary other document of guidelines don't exist.

2. Tate Music Groups engineering staff was provided the masters by the artist, and TMG engineering staff gave specific instructions how to prepare the masters, the the engineering staff replied in email that they were technically acceptable and received properly at TMGs studio.. This email has been provided to TMG attorney who has also failed to respond to this. So in fact the submission do adhere to TMG specs. Mr. Finch in unaware of this, but it will come out in court.

3. The contract states a finished product would be produced by Tate, this has not been done.

4. Mr. Finch states falsely that the artist refused to return. But, in fact Rachel Sweeden never rescheduled the days to record, after being asked multiple times. Again Mr. Finch you are incorrect or unaware of this fact. Again, the emails have been retained to show this proof.

5. TMG let go or parted ways with Kyle Carter, the A&R agent for the artist, and no one at TMG ever called the artist to acknowledge this departure. Allen Finch applogized saying "many things fell through the cracks" after Kyle Carter left, but Mr. Finch now will not admit this is the cause in retrospect, unethically.

6. Don Johnson stated in email "he did not know how to pick" the best vocal track when the master contained more than one to select from. He requested the artist pick rather than himself as the producer. So if he's such a great producer, why can't he do that.

7. The artist rejected all the mixes from TMG, as being substandard. The levels were all incorrect and no standard vocal comp track was ever created.

8. The TMG contract states it will spend the money to produce the finished master. TMG still does not realize it has not done this.

9. The artists has met with two entertainment attorneys in the State of OK who've advised that the case is easily winnable.

10. TMG attorney has threatened litigation of the artist, before the artist has even filed a case. That is highly unethical, and subject matter for an attorney being reported to the state bar.

11. TMG has not participated or begun any arbitration even though their own contract states this is the remedy.

12. There have never been any production needs that are special required of TMG, different than any other. All other record labels have said it's easy to produce finished works from the exact master that Tate was send via fedex.

13. TMG in reality does not have the expertise to produce finished masters. After spending the time and resources, what TMG did produce was and does sound terrible. I invited anyone to request a copy of these mixes to listen for your self. You can hear the TMG mixes suck !

14. TMG claimed to invest @ $35,000 to produce finished master works. But never did. The artists was forced because of TMG inability to produce the the music elsewhere for $9,600, which is why this artist is going to sue TMG for this cost. TMG was given the option to recoup and cover this cost for the artist as they pledged, but then TMG refused, thereby, not owning the master Recodings from this artist, thus TMG has never produced a finished master.

Please anyone in the public do not do any business with this group. You can take your material somewhere else and get it done much better. Stay fare away from Tate. All of Allen Finches claims will be proven false in due course. TMG doesn't even have the guts to refund money to a dis satisfied customer. They would rather spend a lot of money to hire attorneys to try to cover up their inability, rather than pay this artist back when they could not produce a finished master.

Here's what it comes down to. Another producer was given the exact same master material, and they are able to produce a wonderful sounding song. TMG does not have the capability to produce a good quality master mix. TMG is just trying to avoid admitting this in public, so instead they are making up incorrect facts about an artist that are totally false. This document is going to be used to indicate their slander of the artist.

In turn this artist will provide factual email from Tate employees to back up every single fact the artist lists herein. If you don't believe, just request one and I'll have it sent to you.

Get a life Mr. Finch. Your a looser. We produced a full finished master with another producer. Why can't your golden producer do the same.

What specific guide line is it that the artist didn't do that prevents your production staff from producing the finished master? You have never answered this question !!   Now is your change. We're all waiting for your response.

Thank you for taking the time to read our response to this inaccurate claim.  In order to protect the identity of this artist, I will not provide any personal or confidential information; however, I will clarify the inaccuracies that have been posted in this report.

The contractual agreement, reviewed and signed by this artist, states clearly the options TMG would provide for recording production.  The artist was also provided with our complete set of production and submission guidelines for the recording options.  The artist chose not to come to our studios to record but opted to provide pre-recorded tracks for mixing and mastering.

These tracks were initially mixed by our producers, led by Don Johnson.  As a side note, Don Johnson is a gold-record producer and has worked with and produced Emmylou Harris, Ricky Skaggs, Neal McCoy, Lee Greenwood, and others.  It is safe to say he has a good knowledge of music production.

Ultimately, the artist failed to follow the submission guidelines and did not communicate effectively what was wanted for the recording of this project.  After spending time and resources, TMG then found out that the artist actually had other production needs not clearly explained initially.  TMG came back to this artist and offered to start the project over and have the artist come to our studios to record the entire project.

The artist chose not to accept this offer.  The artist then began sending TMG staff email correspondence that was accusatory, threatening, derogatory, and completely inappropriate.  Regardless of these inappropriate emails, TMG continually offered to continue working on the production of this album in order to fully complete the project.

It is, and will continue to be, our desire to work through any issues that may arise.  We have gone above and beyond our original agreement and we are happy to do more in order to help finish the album started by our artist.  If there are any other questions or concerns, please feel free to give me a call at our offices - 405-376-4900.  Thank you.

Allen Finch