'Jay-Z and Beyonce are buying back DMX's masters for $10 Million and giving to his kids for free.
Following the April 9 death of Grammy-nominated rap star DMX, a widely shared Facebook post falsely claimed industry giants Beyonce and husband Jay-Z purchased the rights to his studio recordings and granted them to DMX's children. 'Jay-Z & Beyonce are buying back DMX's masters for $10 Million and giving to his kids for free,' the post reads. The post was flagged as part of efforts by Facebook to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.) It's not true. DMX, also known as Earl Simmons, soared to prominence with multiple hit records in the late 1990s and early 2000s. He died April 9 after being hospitalized for a heart attack a week earlier, according to the Associated Press. A 'master' is a music industry term for the original sound recording of a song that's protected by copyright, according to HipHopDX, an industry news hub owned by Warner Music Group. Addressing rumors of the purchase, the family of DMX released a statement to various media outlets April 12, confirming that his masters were not sold. 'No one has bought Earl's masters,' a family spokesperson said in the statement. 'Additionally, we are not selling any merch or raising money for Earl's funeral. If anyone is requesting for money for his funeral please be aware the person is a scammer.' The rights to DMX's masters remain with the various record groups he worked with over the span of his career: Universal Music Group for the first five albums; Sony for the sixth; and a group of six listed parties for his final album: DMX himself, Damon Blackmon, Unichappell Music Inc., Sa-Vette Music, Boomer X Publishing Inc. and Damon Blackmon Publishing.
Our ruling A Facebook post said Beyonce and Jay-Z purchased the rights to DMX's studio recordings and granted them to DMX's children. We found no evidence of this. The family of the late rapper issued a statement April 12 saying 'no one' has purchased DMX's collection. The rights to the masters remain with the various record groups he worked with during his career: We rate this claim Pants on Fire. PolitiFact researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.
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