Which artist, in 1960, negotiated master ownership at ABC‑Paramount along with a higher artist royalty — a watershed moment for catalog leverage and downstream revenue? Bonus if you know the royalty bump they secured over the then‑standard about 5% rate.
Ray Charles — his 1960 ABC‑Paramount deal let him “own his masters” and bumped his artist royalty to roughly 10% (about double the about 5% norm), though some accounts say LPs edged a bit higher. If you want to pin it down, scan the Dec ’59–Mar ’60 Billboard reports on his signing — got a contract scan handy?