RAYE: the music that major record labels tried to silence

London-born artist RAYE has more than 17 million monthly listeners on Spotify today. Further, the R&B star has seven Top 20 hits to her name and song writing credits for a variety of household names, like Beyoncé, John Legend and Little Mix. 

However, the journey to stardom has not always been smooth sailing for the 28 year old. RAYE has spoken out publicly about the mistreatment she suffered at the hands of her record label. After being signed to her then label Polydor in 2016, the singer-songwriter recalls communication with her new bosses slowly fading out, stating she felt like “less of a priority.” Unfortunately, cases like RAYE’s happen all too often in the music industry, other stars like Mike Posner telling a similar tale of feeling “trapped’ by his label, and being forced to give some of his best songs to more popular artists like Maroon 5. However, with the rise of streaming and social media allowing artists to bypass these traditional intermediaries, more artists are opting to stay independent and retain all creative control of their work. 

In the case of RAYE, the artist is now happily independent and enjoying the success of her new single Where Is My Husband!, which has gone viral on TikTok, Instagram and earned the artist six Brit Awards in a single night. She talks publicly about putting her trust in a label as a budding musician, singing with Polydor in 2016 after the success of her self-released 2014 EP Welcome to Winter. With the backing of her new label, the artist released music with big names such as Stormzy, Stefflon Don and Mr Eazi. RAYE showed off her talents in production, as well as songwriting and performance, her collaboration with producer Jax Jones on single You Don’t Know Me, becoming a Top 3 smash hit.

However, this is where the artist noted a turning point in the work she released with her label, being positioned not as a long-term recording artist, but a featured vocalist on other tracks and a songwriter for more popular artists. RAYE would go on to write for big names like Charli XCX, Little Mix and Beyonce. However as a solo artist, her career was constantly rejected. For example, her viral hit Escapism was shut down by the label, a dark, moody song about the singer’s experience with addiction.

Things reached a breaking point when RAYE found herself trying not to cry while being interviewed on live TV, promoting her latest tune Call on Me. The singer found a question regarding the release of her elusive debt album too much, two days later she would take to Twitter to expose just how vulnerable artists are under a record label.

“I have been on a 4 ALBUM RECORD DEAL since 2014,” she vented to her 50,000 followers. “And haven’t been allowed to put out one album.” She detailed how her “music sat in folders collecting dust". This bold decision speaks to the suffering of many musicians sidelined by their labels, thankfully the artist was granted a clean break from Polydor, a rarity in the music industry. 

Today, RAYE is still an independent artist and plans to keep it that way. Her story is an amazing example of an artist advocating for themselves and their work. She has become a household name across the UK and the world, we can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!