Does lady gaga have full artistic control?

Answer 1

To the extent that artists such as Tom Petty, George Michael, Madonna, and Bjork do, NO. That might seem like an odd group of artists, but to have "full artistic control" of one's career is actually quite rare in today's international commercial music market & only a handful or artists do. However, Gaga sees substantial revenues for the music she makes in that she owns her own music publishing company. When music is sold to a consumer, played on the radio, used on TV or in film, etc., royalties are generated for those involved in the piece's production & license holders. Since Gaga OWNS her music licenses, she is able to gain where artists who used secondary publishing outlets are not. In 2010, Gaga actually had to spend millions buying back HER OWN music from very early in her career as the rights/licenses were the property of a third party. Michael Jackson made a fortune off of purchasing the rights to Elvis & Beatles music; music he had no hand in actually creating but simply to which he bought legal ownership. As music is constantly being consumed, there is always money to be made off of it. Barbra Streisand for example lives almost entirely off the royalties generated from music she made decades ago. In sum, what a world!