Rita’s pop reign is down to Prince

Superstar told singer to fight for control of her hits has told how she was inspired to take control of her back catalogue by music legend

Rita Ora

Prince.

The You Only Love Me singer inked a new deal with record label BMG last year which saw her handed control of her own masters.

In an interview with Wonderland Magazine, which is yet to be released, Rita says it was Prince who made her see the importance of owning your own tunes.

The Purple Rain star, who spent years in rights battles, once declared: “If you don’t own your masters, your master owns you.”

And Rita, who jetted to the pop superstar’s US mansion to work on new music in 2013, says he also gave her the same advice.

Rita reveals: “He said it to me when I was with him but I never thought that was a possibility for me. I was like, ‘There’s no way. I’m not going to get on anyone’s bad side’. I’m now in a position where I own my own masters – I can control where we’re going, what we’re publishing.”

Rita, who was discovered by Jay-Z, started her career at the rapper’s Roc

Nation label, where the production of her early work was outsourced to contributors such as Sia, Diplo and will.i.am and she was “taught” not to rock the boat.

Rita admits: “I was a huge, huge pleaser back then. I was taught to do what everyone else wanted.”

But now she has taken back control of her music – and her life.

In 2016, the singer ended her contract with Roc Nation after settling out of court. And after Taylor Swift’s legal battle over the rights to her early albums in 2019, Rita vowed her next deal would put her interests first.

She tells Wonderland: “Taylor really did inspire me. It was a big leap to do this deal… it wasn’t smooth sailing.

“I’m always here to talk. Up and coming artists that really want to ask me about it, I’m here for it.”

Tyrannical record label bosses, beware.