Rick Springfield Reveals How the Music Industry “Preyed” on Him When Starting His Career

Although once part of the band Zoot during the 1960s, Rick Springfield decided to explore a solo career and produced the hit song “Speak to the Sky.” That was just the start from Springfield as he went on to land other hits like “Don’t Talk to Strangers” and “Affair of the Heart.” He also gained roles in several hit shows including True Detective. While loving his career in the music industry and Hollywood, Springfield recently discussed how the industry preyed on him when he started out. 

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Even before Springfield decided to open up, many singers and musicians explained how the industry took advantage of them. Adding his voice to the conversation, Springfield revealed on SiriusXM’s Eddie Trunk, “The music business has always preyed on the young. Absolutely. And I got preyed on when I was like 20 and I signed away my publishing rights because I didn’t know any better.”

Not remotely forgetting how the music industry took advantage of him, Springfield knew the exact moment. “I was in Australia and these big Americans sent over this contract and we didn’t know about lawyers. I didn’t even have a lawyer look at it and 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.”

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Rick Springfield Spent Thousands For Record Company

While Springfield can’t change the past, it still baffled him when it came to the record company owning his songs. “[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. The majority of [the labels] just would shove product down the pipeline as much as they could, until the pipeline choked. That was kind of their approach. So every artist has absolutely their due to take all their music back.”

Springfield also took a moment to congratulate artists like Taylor Swift for finding a loophole in the system and regaining control of her rich discography. And as for Springfield, he continues to record, releasing his latest album, Automatic, back in 2023.

(Photo by Denise Truscello/Getty Images for Palms Casino Resort)