10K Projects lawsuit

Elliot Grainge (10K Projects, right) and Taz Taylor (Internet Money, left)

Elliot Grainge’s 10K Projects faces a lawsuit from Taz Taylor’s Internet Money with allegations that the company violated contractual obligations.

Warner Music Group-owned 10K Projects, headed by Lucian Grainge’s son Elliot, has been sued by Taz Taylor’s Internet Money, with which 10K entered into a joint venture in 2019. Taylor’s company claims that 10K Projects withheld millions in violation of fiduciary and contractual obligations.

Filed in Los Angeles Federal Court on Tuesday (November 4), the lawsuit alleges that 10K knowingly “cross-collateralized” accounts to avoid paying Internet Money’s share of profits as part of their joint venture. The filing outlines a pattern of alleged contract violations and profit-sharing misconduct.

The two companies announced the joint venture in August 2019 with a plan to sign and develop artists and split the net profits evenly . But in 2020, they renegotiated for an amendment to the JV, after Taylor began releasing music outside the scope of the deal.

Since then, 10K has allegedly engaged in a “consistent and repeated pattern of violations and breaches of its obligations under the agreement in numerous ways.” 10K was required to get approval from Internet Money regarding all creative and business decisions, per the agreement. But Internet Money claims that 10K did not comply, and “unilaterally incurred and charged tens of millions of dollars in deduction” without prior approval.

The suit claims that 10K effectively gave away profits from Internet Money’s music—namely the 2020 hit “Lemonade”—first by giving a $500,000 advance to an unnamed artist, and then by renegotiating the agreement without Internet Money’s approval. Internet Money also alleges that 10K has impeded requests for an audit.

Internet Money seeks millions in damages, citing breach of contract, accounting, fraudulent inducement, unjust enrichment, and other claims.

Elliot Grainge became CEO of Atlantic Music Group in October last year. He has spent years building his 10K Projects, of which Grainge’s father’s Warner Music Group is the parent company.