Radical Redemption is the stage name of Joey van Ingen, the 32-year-old son of singer Marga Bult of the eighties girl group Babe. Van Ingen has been active as a DJ in the so-called hardstyle genre for twelve years.
Since 2011 he has an exclusive contract with Most Wanted DJ Agency. That company took care of the bookings of shows for him, against a percentage of the proceeds. Most Wanted was completely taken over by event giant ID&T in two steps in recent years.
Collision
Over the years, Van Ingen has grown into one of Most Wanted’s most booked DJs. In 2019, the parties extended their contract. But last year the artist collided with the agency.
Last February he canceled the agreement with Most Wanted and replaced that name on his website with Anna Agency, Anna Knaup’s booking agency. His booking for the upcoming edition of Dance Valley actually went beyond his former agency.
To court
However, Most Wanted and ID&T were not satisfied with that. They went to court to force the DJ to comply with his contractual obligations on the basis of periodic penalty payments.
During the summary proceedings before the Amsterdam court, it became clear why the DJ and his booking company came to blows. Van Ingen developed a new music concept during the corona period, combining his hardstyle dance with classical music. At his own expense he developed a show with a live orchestra of 20 people, a light show and drones.
New concept
During the Intents Festival in Oisterwijk in Brabant, the DJ performed this show for the first time in May 2022. He also tested the concept at the Decibel and Dominator events. Van Ingen blames his old agency for not doing enough to sell the new concept.
There was also disagreement over costs. In October, Van Ingen made a proposal that the booking office would receive its percentage of the amount that remained after deducting the costs, instead of a fee on the gross proceeds. Most Wanted refused.
High cost
This gave Van Ingen the feeling that his booking agency did not support him, did not want to invest in his musical development and only wanted him to ‘play records’. The company itself says that it wanted to protect him from excessive financial expenditure.
“A booking agency should actually relieve an artist, and ensure that you can lay your egg creatively,” says Van Ingen in an explanation to RTL Z. “As an artist you always have to look for the creative next step, so that you can offer the public can continue to make a difference. But a lot went wrong here. When things went wrong, I had no choice but to choose myself.”
DJ wins
All these issues were discussed before the court, but in the end the preliminary relief judge pushed them aside. ‘The answer to all these questions is not decisive’, the judge ruled, because the summary proceedings only concern the question whether Van Ingen can be forced to continue with the booking office against his will.
The artist cannot be obliged to do so, the judge ruled. In the ruling, he refers to a passage in the contract, which states that Van Ingen must pay compensation if he unlawfully terminates the booking agreement.
Damages
This means that the artist can indeed leave. The consequence of this is that he runs the risk of having to pay that compensation. Whether he unlawfully terminated the agreement and is therefore liable for damages must be determined in proceedings on the merits.
When asked, Van Ingen says that before the summary proceedings he already tried to separate in a good way. “I do not think that the contract has been unlawfully terminated and that I therefore do not have to pay compensation. But we have also done a lot of great things in recent years, and it would be good if we could say goodbye in a way that does justice to that. They rejected that, and chose to go to court.”
Most Wanted director Matthijs Hazeleger has announced through a spokesperson that he does not want to comment on the matter.
Bosman judgment
The lawsuit between DJ Joey van Ingen and booking agency Most Wanted is reminiscent of the legendary Bosman judgment of 1995, concerning the transfer wish of Belgian footballer Jean-Marc Bosman.
The footballer wanted to transfer to another club after the end of his contract with Club Liège, but stated that his employer made this impossible because his club demanded too high a transfer fee.
After years of litigation, the European Court of Justice ruled, among other things, that football clubs could no longer claim transfer fees after the expiry of a contract. Thanks to the arrest, footballers were given much more freedom to switch.
