I wish I could use this opportunity to go on an extremely specific rant against the sweatshop-like conditions that lower-level employees theoretically endure at each of the major labels, but sadly, this story is undoubtedly not unique to the music industry, lest we forget that shitty unpaid internships are not unique to the music industry. Turns out, though, a principal part of that shittiness — being an errand boy/girl to whichever overpaid exec supervises your work — might not be totally legal, according to standards set forth by the Fair Labor Standards Act, and further clarified by this handy fact sheet from 2010. The relevant excerpt:
The internship, even though it includes actual operation of the facilities of the employer, is similar to training which would be given in an education environment.
So, despite the existence of barista-geared higher education, more than 3,000 former interns are claiming in a class action lawsuit (approved by a New York federal judge a couple of weeks ago) that Warner Music Group did not reasonably comply with the educational requirement, among other infractions, through its tasking of interns with “answering telephones, making photocopies, making deliveries, preparing coffee, getting lunch for paid employees, running personal errands for paid employees, and other similar duties.”
3,000 interns!? That’s some rampant dissatisfaction. You can almost get a whiff of the residual souls and aspirations (perhaps naive) that have just been extinguished. That’s New York/Los Angeles for you, I guess. It’ll be cool if the lawsuit goes the distance.
• Warner Music Group: http://www.wmg.com
