The year 2017 has barely got started, but any New Year spirit has quickly worn off for K Theory with the news that Malcolm Anthony has “quit” the band. The lead vocalist of the popular Californian EDM/hip-hop group cited ‘ years of creative differences’ as the reason for his departure on Twitter.

Ghost Producers

Since leaving the group, the departed Anthony went on a bit of a rant against the production practices of remaining members Dylan Lewman and Dustin Musser. According to Anthony, K Theory used ghost producers by purchasing tracks online. The group then fine tuned these tracks and added Anthony’s vocals to them.

His criticism of K Theory was scathing, and his agenda is quite plain to see—he wants to convince K Theory’s fans that the group has conned them down the years by never producing their own music. He goes on to say that, “I allowed K Theory to pretend to be some producing giant when really it was just me picking dope beats from online, flipping them a little to make them EDM friendly and dumping the K Theory logo on it.”

Contract

Anthony also submitted a list of tracks that he says were ghost produced that includes major K Theory hits such as Time Heals Nothing and Turn It. A statement released on Dylan Lewman’s behalf by his attorney contradicts the claim that Anthony “quit” the group. Instead, according to the statement, Malcolm Anthony had his contract terminated.

The whole dispute is quite messy, and there will definitely be more revelations to come over the following weeks. What is certain, though, is that this is another shining example of why ghost production is a good thing.

The revelations were no doubt released with the intention of portraying K Theory as a group that is misleading its fans. Instead, Anthony has inadvertently championed ghost production and shown why it’s so useful.

Hope

Firstly, the comments give hope to the thousands of producers who upload their tracks and beats online every month in the hope rather than expectancy of one day selling them to someone. That such a large EDM act has shown interest in others’ music shows that there is definitely a market for talented producers to make a living and get their tunes heard. This should lead to an improvement in the overall quality of EDM music as more unknown producers stop doubting themselves and start trying to sell their music.

Furthermore, from the perspective of acts like K Theory, we can see how having a talented pool of producers to choose from has helped a busy mainstream EDM act select suitable music that is in line with their brand. They can then alter the purchased tracks slightly and put their stamp on the music so that it resembles their own distinct sound. Anthony might think this is a bad thing, but it’s just clever music production, and it wouldn’t be possible without talented ghost producers.

Anthony thought he was being clever by releasing this information but he has really helped to shed ghost production in a positive light by showing how useful it is to both the ghost producers themselves and the acts who pay for their tracks.