Ciara Reveals How She Regained Her Masters

Ciara has first-hand experience of what it means for an artist to own their master recordings.

During a recent interview with Forbes, Ciara shared how she became an independent artist and how label drama led to owning her masters.

“It was also one of my greatest meetings because that propelled me to become independent, because literally he did not see the vision of what ‘Level Up’ was,” said Ciara. “I remember going downstairs to the person that was my A&R at that time his name was Monti Olson […] I’m forever grateful for him because he also believed in me when I was like eight months pregnant to sign a deal with meHe was one of the executives that were actually still at the company when the old CEO went out.”

“I asked for my masters and they gave it back to me for free, so let you know how much they didn’t believe, and now ‘Level Up’ is almost three times platinum,” she continued.

Betting on herself turned out to be the best decision the “Goodies”  singer ever made. The success of “Level Up” helped to launcher her independent label, Beauty Marks Entertainment, which she established in 2017.

The hit song became the first release from her label and debuted at 77 on the US Billboard Hot 100 on July 31, 2018 moved to number 59 the following week. It debuted at number 10 on the US Digital Songs chart that same week, becoming Ciara’s sixth top-ten hit on the chart and first since “Love Sex Magic” in March 2009.