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Rising Colombian musician Ryan Castro won a multi-million dollar lawsuit against record label King Records, Billboard reports, over a year after the singer filed his complaint accusing the label of withholding royalties as well as breach of contract.
Per Billboard, the arbitration ruled that King Records—founded by Colombian artist Kevin Roldán—must pay Castro more than $2 million and that Castro gets the rights to his music. Castro had filed three lawsuits and two remain active, a rep for Castro said.
“I have never stopped working or releasing music for my fans even during the time I was going through the lawsuit. I am finally free and ready to give my 200%,” Castro said in a statement. “I am feeling very blessed and can go on to continue promoting my newest album El Cantante Del Ghetto’. Expect more music and a tour from me soon!”
In a statement, King Records said that “it’s important to highlight that our company still owns two active contracts with Ryan Castro including the exclusive management of his music career, in addition to a joint venture through Awoo King Records where we share master recordings and other business together.”
“While we are respectful of the court and it’s decision, we will exercise our options to have it revised, since we find it unfair and unbalanced, based on the evidence presented by our legal team,” a rep for King Records said in a statement. “We wish Ryan Castro and his team the best but will continue to work through our current agreements while will seek to have this decision amended.”
Castro’s allegations go back several years. He signed recording and publishing contracts with King Records in 2020, and by 2021, he alleged, the label wasn’t providing financial statements despite his requests for them. Castro and Roldán established a new company called Awoo King Records in an attempt to mitigate the problem, but the issues persisted. Castro also alleged that the money from Awoo King was siphoned out without his knowledge.
Castro’s victory comes weeks after the release of his latest album, El Cantante del Ghetto, which featured collaborations with Peso Pluma, Rich The Kid, and Myke Towers, among others. Rolling Stone included Castro in our Future 25 list — co-selected with Pluma — earlier this year.
