Casey Spooner Says Madonna Didn’t Credit Or Pay Him For Co-Writing “God Control”
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Former Fischerspooner frontman Casey Spooner says that he was not credited or paid for co-writing the song “God Control” off of Madonna’s recent album Madame X. He took to Instagram today to call her out, writing, “I HAVE HAD ENOUGH @madonna has fucked me over. I co-wrote GOD CONTROL and I’ve gotten no credit and no compensation. I’ve been dealing with this for 5 months and I’m over it. I have played nice and been very patient but time is up!”
According to Spooner’s Instagram Story, he worked on the song for the French producer Mirwais in December 2017. “He wanted me to sing on his album with various other vocalists,” Spooner explains. “He had a piece of writing with a clear concept, lyrics, and melody. But the language was a little clunky as he was French writing in English about American politics. I cleaned it up, did some editing, Americanized the language, and created a new melody for the last few lines.”
Spooner says that although he loved the song and he and Mirwais had discussed shooting a documentary and a music video for it, they both got busy with other projects and fell out of touch for a while: “9 months later after reaching out several times, I finally heard from him. He was postponing his solo album and producing Madonna’s new album. I immediately professed my desire to work on the Madonna album with him. No response.”
“Cut to June 2019, the new Madonna album releases with the song God Control,” Spooner continues. “I’m walking down the street the day after the release and it pops on Spotify. I decide to play a song called God Control because I’ve seen someone online recommending it. My jaw drops immediately and I have a knot in my gut. It’s the song I worked on. It contains my work and is influenced by my demo. I’m extremely emotional and feel deeply betrayed. I was never contacted or credited.”
Spooner says he politely emailed Mirwais to congratulate him on the release and ask if they could discuss the matter. After not hearing back for six weeks, he was contacted by Madonna’s manager and lawyer. They claimed that Madonna was unaware of Spooner’s contributions and wants to settle out of court as “this is a Mirwais problem that’s become a Madonna problem.”
Madonna’s camp offered Spooner $10,000 as an advance against publishing and 15% of the writing royalties. Although they later increased the advance offer to $25,000, Spooner still thinks the terms are “shitty”: “I’m getting a 25K advance against publishing royalties which after legal fees and taxes will be 10K?!?! It’s been an endless nightmare of lawyers and waiting and more emails…..and for what?! 10K?”
Spooner goes on to suggest that he “should be getting paid a percentage of the live show. There is no money in record sales. Period. Not even for Madonna. I’ve seen the numbers. @madonna I’ve changed my mind. I think 1% of touring profits will cover my contribution and damages. I mean, it is the opening number in the show. And while you’re galavanting around on stage….I’m completely broke in Berlin. Robbed, ignored and delayed.”
Spooner says that his lawyer has suggested he seek out a litigator and he is considering suing for damages as “the entire process has felt very violating and disrespectful…I think they may try to get me to sign a gag order which I don’t want to do because I think the story should be told as cautionary for other artists. But I’m staying quiet until we’ve reached a settlement.”
Madonna is currently in residency at the Wiltern in Los Angeles as part of her Madame X Tour, which began in New York in September and is set to conclude in Paris in March. Find Spooner’s Instagram posts and compare his demo with the finished version of the song “God Control” below.
