Rick Springfield may be a rock veteran today, but his early experiences in the music industry were far from glamorous. In a recent chat with SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk, the Jessie’s Girl singer opened up about one of his biggest career regrets—unknowingly signing away his publishing rights as a naive 20-year-old.
“The music business has always preyed on the young. Absolutely,” Springfield stated. “And I got preyed on when I was like 20 and I signed away my publishing rights because I didn’t know any better.”
Back then, Springfield was an up-and-coming artist in Australia when a contract from American industry executives landed on his desk. Without legal counsel or a clear understanding of what he was giving up, he signed the deal—only to realize years later that his publishing rights were completely out of his control.
“I didn’t even have a lawyer look at it,” he admitted. “I just said, ‘OK, this must be fair.’ And I signed it and realized a couple of years later that they owned all of my publishing.”
Springfield’s experience isn’t unique. Many young artists have fallen victim to similar deals, trading their creative control for a shot at success. However, Springfield has learned to accept the hard lesson, calling it “just the way of the world.”
But that doesn’t mean he isn’t in favor of artists fighting back. The rocker gave props to modern musicians—like Taylor Swift—who have found ways to regain control of their work. “Every artist has absolutely their due to take all their music back,” Springfield declared, adding that record labels historically prioritized profit over fairness.
“[It] would always amaze me that I’d spend $100,000 on a frigging video in the ‘80s and the record company would own it,” he noted. “The majority of [the labels] just would shove product down the pipeline as much as they could, until the pipeline choked.”
Despite the hurdles of his early career, Springfield remains a force in the music world. He recently released Big Hits: Rick Springfield’s Greatest Hits, Vol. 2 and is gearing up for the I Want My ’80s tour, where he’ll hit the road alongside John Waite starting May 28.
Though Springfield may have lost out on his publishing rights decades ago, his legacy—and his fight for artist empowerment—continues to rock on.
