Los Angeles (AFP)

The rights holders of rapper Tupac or rocker Tom Petty have joined a group complaint filed against Universal Music Group, suspected of deliberately hiding the magnitude of a fire that in 2008 destroyed 500,000 original recordings.

The plaintiffs claim at least $ 100 million in damages to the world's largest music company, in their class action filed just before the weekend in a federal court in Los Angeles.

This is the first legal action since the New York Times revealed the extensive damage caused by the incident, which occurred on June 1, 2008 at Universal's Hollywood facility.

The complaint was filed by three law firms that also represent the interests of the Soundgarden group, the Hole formation founded by Courtney Love, or the folk singer Steve Earle.

"UMG has kept original recordings, which embody the complainants' musical work, in a warehouse neither adapted nor standards," according to the complaint.

Universal Music then "concealed the losses with false public statements", while establishing a confidential agreement with its other branch Universal Studios, according to this document.

Among the recordings that went up in smoke were works, sometimes unique, of legendary stars like Billie Holiday, Louis Armstrong, Ella Fitzgerald, Sonny and Cher, Joni Mitchell, Eric Clapton, Elton John, Janet Jackson or Nirvana.

"I'll be clear: we owe transparency to our artists," wrote Lucian Grainge, CEO of Universal Music Group, in a memo published by the specialized letter Music Business Worldwide.

A Vivendi subsidiary based in Santa Monica, near Los Angeles, California, Universal Music Group is considered one of the world's three music giants, with Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group.

But the market share held by UMG is almost twice as large as its challenger Sony, thanks to heavyweights such as Ariana Grande and Drake, as well as a colossal catalog of missing artists, such Frank Sinatra or Queen.

Vivendi is seeking to sell 50% of UMG and does not intend to give up, said its CEO Arnaud de Puyfontaine to Variety magazine. The fire "took place eleven years ago and the headlines are just noise," he said.

? 2019 AFP