Anitta in 2017. Photo Credit: Teca Lamboglia
Less than one month after making clear that she’d be willing to auction off her organs in order to exit a contract with Warner Music Group (WMG), Anitta has officially parted ways with the major label.
Rio de Janeiro-born Anitta (full name Larissa de Macedo Machado) just recently took to social media to reveal the news. Having signed with Warner Music Brazil in 2013 before inking a stateside contract with WMG in January of 2020, Anitta last April released a project entitled Versions of Me under the latter deal.
Though the seemingly well-received work – reportedly one of three albums deliverable under the 2020 pact – racked up a substantial number of streams, Anitta evidently found things to be less than ideal behind the scenes. Specifically, the 30-year-old claimed that she’d been made to pay for music videos out of her own pocket, besides alleging that the Big Three label had reserved financial support for tracks that went viral on TikTok.
“My love, if I had a fine to pay, I would have already auctioned off my organs, no matter how expensive it was to get out,” Anitta explained to a fan, per a translation of her Portuguese-language comments. “But unfortunately it doesn’t [work that way]. When you’re young and still don’t know much, you have to pay close attention to the things you sign… if you can’t [you may] spend a lifetime paying for the mistake.”
Notwithstanding these remarks and the mentioned possibility of dealing with the effects of ill-advised deals throughout “a lifetime,” Anitta and WMG are splitting, as noted at the outset.
A “joint statement from Anitta & Warner Music” was posted to the Cheetos-partnered artist’s Twitter and Instagram accounts this afternoon. The brief (English-language) explanation reads in full: “After eleven years of successful partnership, we’ve agreed to go our separate ways. Anitta would like to thank the Warner Music team for all their support. And the Warner team wishes Anitta all the best in [the] future.”
Beyond these three to-the-point sentences, Anitta didn’t appear to have elaborated upon the development in a statement. And while the one-time Grammy nominee’s next professional move remains to be seen, it’s worth mentioning that Roc Nation rather conspicuously wished her a happy birthday on Twitter five days ago.
Now under the leadership of former YouTube exec Robert Kyncl, Warner Music late last month announced approximately 270 job cuts and a far-reaching executive-level reorganization. Also in March, Warner Records rolled out a flagship EDM label called Major Recordings, and WMG invested in Czech Republic hip-hop label Mike Roft.