Following allegations of sexual assault against singer/guitarist Ben Hopkins last month — which the band have vehemently denied — PWR BTTM lost their record deal, tourmates and a touring member. Now, Hopkins and bandmate Liv Bruce have enlisted a new team of damage control professionals in hopes of moving forward.
As Billboard reports, they've hired manager Lisa Barbaris and lawyer Jeffrey Koenig, and are working towards regaining the rights to the band's sophomore album Pageant, which was released on May 12 but quickly pulled by Polyvinyl in the wake of the sexual assault allegations.
The band have regained distribution right to their 2015 debut LP Ugly Cherries, and as of today (June 13), the album has returned to streaming services. It was originally released by Father/Daughter Records, though it disappeared from streaming services when the label severed ties with PWR BTTM last month.
"We're happy Ugly Cherries is available again and thankful to Father/Daughter Records for their cooperation in transferring the record's distribution rights to PWR BTTM," Barbaris said in a statement [via Billboard]. "We hope we will be able to reach an arrangement with Polyvinyl that satisfies their needs as a business and allows listeners to access PWR BTTM's music."
A spokesperson for Polyvinyl, meanwhile, told Billboard that the label has been in contact with the band's team and is currently working out details to a formal separation. The rep added: "Polyvinyl wishes to make the transition as easy as possible and has no desire to prevent the band from releasing Pageant once an agreement has been reached."
Barbaris, who also currently represents Cyndi Lauper and has previously worked as director of press and artist relations for Elektra, Asylum and Nonesuch Records, claims she had no prior knowledge of PWR BTTM or Polyvinyl until last month, but found it "very troubling" to see a label "derail and potentially destroy" a band's career.
"I've never seen a label respond in such an irresponsible way in the 30-plus years I've been in the music business," she said.
Not everyone has reacted quite so positively to PWR BTTM's music being restored to streaming services, though. See some of the backlash on Twitter below.
As Billboard reports, they've hired manager Lisa Barbaris and lawyer Jeffrey Koenig, and are working towards regaining the rights to the band's sophomore album Pageant, which was released on May 12 but quickly pulled by Polyvinyl in the wake of the sexual assault allegations.
The band have regained distribution right to their 2015 debut LP Ugly Cherries, and as of today (June 13), the album has returned to streaming services. It was originally released by Father/Daughter Records, though it disappeared from streaming services when the label severed ties with PWR BTTM last month.
"We're happy Ugly Cherries is available again and thankful to Father/Daughter Records for their cooperation in transferring the record's distribution rights to PWR BTTM," Barbaris said in a statement [via Billboard]. "We hope we will be able to reach an arrangement with Polyvinyl that satisfies their needs as a business and allows listeners to access PWR BTTM's music."
A spokesperson for Polyvinyl, meanwhile, told Billboard that the label has been in contact with the band's team and is currently working out details to a formal separation. The rep added: "Polyvinyl wishes to make the transition as easy as possible and has no desire to prevent the band from releasing Pageant once an agreement has been reached."
Barbaris, who also currently represents Cyndi Lauper and has previously worked as director of press and artist relations for Elektra, Asylum and Nonesuch Records, claims she had no prior knowledge of PWR BTTM or Polyvinyl until last month, but found it "very troubling" to see a label "derail and potentially destroy" a band's career.
"I've never seen a label respond in such an irresponsible way in the 30-plus years I've been in the music business," she said.
Not everyone has reacted quite so positively to PWR BTTM's music being restored to streaming services, though. See some of the backlash on Twitter below.
I probably shouldn't comment on this more than this one tweet but polyvinyl/f-d removing PWR BTTM's music wasn't "irresponsible."
— James Cassar (@getcerebral) June 13, 2017
pwr bttm: maybe if we just lay low for a month, everyone will forget
— AllegrA (@allegramusic_) June 13, 2017
everyone: no
LOL nobody wants to buy your album anymore tho
— sadie dupuis (@sad13) June 13, 2017
hopefully pwr bttm play their comeback show someplace fitting for a band of their caliber, like chernobyl, or maybe an active volcano
— kris_dba (@tagoutbiz) June 13, 2017
pwr bttm's new pr in action pic.twitter.com/zk5646wQPw
— Oliver Primus (@oliverprimus) June 13, 2017
