A Manager Claims He ‘Discovered’ Gigi Perez, But UMG Illegally Cut Him Out of Her ‘Explosive Success’
Categoria: Musica
A new lawsuit paints a complex picture of artist management and A&R in the modern, social-media-fueled music industry.
Por Billboard | 07/10/2026
The Universal Music Group is facing a new lawsuit centered on the rise of Gigi Perez , filed by music manager Josh Marshall ’s Mogul Vision over accusations that the music giant cut him out after he discovered the TikTok sensation. In a case filed last week, attorneys for Marshall’s company claim he “discovered the artist” and “championed her signing” but that UMG has breached its contract with him and has “captured for themselves” the proceeds from her “explosive success.” “Defendants failed to honor plaintiff’s specific contractual rights … in the recording career of Gigi Perez, whose music has been streamed more than 3.1 billion times on Spotify alone, and an estimated more than 5 billion times across all platforms,” Mogul Vision’s attorneys write in the lawsuit, obtained by Billboard . The case is seeking at least $25 million in damages, as well as a ruling that Mogul Vision is entitled to ownership rights to certain Perez music. The singer herself is not named as a defendant in the case nor accused of any wrongdoing. A spokesman for UMG and label reps for Perez did not immediately return requests for comment. An attorney for Mogul Vision also did not return a request for comment. Marshall, who appears to have first launched Mogul Vision in 2019, has managed artists including kennyhoopla , Lil Mosey and, now infamously, the singer d4vd — a once-rising star who stands accused of murdering and dismembering a 14 year old girl. His new lawsuit against UMG paints a picture of the complex world of artist management and A&R in the modern, social-media-fueled music industry, and turns on UMG’s parent ownership of both Interscope Records and Island Records. The case claims Marshall “brought” Perez to Interscope in the summer of 2021, after her “Sometimes (Backwood)” had already gone viral on TikTok. It says the label was initially uninterested, but that he personally talked Interscope boss John Janick and top A&R Nicole Wyskoarko into signing her. As part of that deal, the lawsuit claims, Mogul Vision and Interscope inked an agreement in September 2021, creating a joint venture label entity that would see Perez’s records (and potentially those of other artists) released under the credit Mogul Vision/Interscope Records. The terms of that contract are at the core of the new lawsuit. Marshall says it promised him 50 percent of profits Interscope earned from Perez’s music, as well as 50 percent ownership of certain rights. But more importantly, he claims it promised that if Interscope eventually wanted to cut ties with Perez, he would be entitled to take over the label’s half of the partnership: “If Interscope decided not to continue as the record label for a particular artist, plaintiff would then have the option to do so itself.” After the release of Perez’s 2023 EP How to Catch a Falling Knife , the lawsuit claims Interscope decided to do exactly that: drop the singer from its talent roster. At the time, she allegedly still owed four more