Those affected tell us

Criticism of DJ Bobo: female singers not paid fairly?

(Bild: www.srf.ch)

The Swiss musician DJ Bobo is said to have raked in 25 million francs in his 30-year career - but he apparently didn't want to share this financial success with the female singers who lent him their voices for many of his hits. Two of those affected have now come clean. "René Baumann alias Bobo wouldn't have paid me anything voluntarily", explained the musician Emel, for whom a top lawyer was finally able to negotiate a large sum. Another went away almost empty-handed.

The case was started by singer Lori Glori, who confided her life story to the Swiss newspaper "Blick". After coming to Germany from the USA in the 1990s, she became one of the best-known voices in Eurodance. But this brought her neither fame nor fortune, as Glori explained. 

Only 5000 euros for participation in mega hits
The man who made her voice world-famous never paid her properly. When she met him in 1994, he invited her to his studio and they recorded a few songs. Shortly afterwards, she was handed 10,000 German marks (around 5100 euros) and signed a document. What she didn't realize was that she was signing away her copyrights. "I could hardly speak German and I thought it was a receipt," says Glori.

It was only when she heard her voice on MTV that she found out what had become of the recordings. The first mega-hit that DJ Bobo landed with her voice was the number "Let the Dream Come True". While the musician became rich with her voice, Glori ended up impoverished on the street. His management did not respond to her calls. The singer can also be heard in the songs "There's a Party", "Pray" and "Respect Yourself".

Another singer, who was only 16 years old at the time of her collaboration with DJ Bobo, is also making serious allegations. Emel sang the hook line for the song "Somebody Dance With Me" for him. "He said at the time that he had no money. But we agreed a share if the song was successful." The number became DJ Bobo's first number 1 hit.

Only a top lawyer was able to obtain fair royalties
However, the musician did not want to share his financial success with Emel voluntarily, as she recounts. It was only when she was signed to the German record company BMG that she received support. "They put a top lawyer from the record industry at my side." Bobo responded and presented receipts for performance fees, which were subsequently written on. "They wanted to prove that I had assigned my copyrights to the song. A pretty clumsy attempt," says Emel. 

Harsh verdict from singer Emel: "rip-off"
It was only when Emel's lawyer threatened to sue her for falsification of documents that an out-of-court settlement was finally reached and she received royalties amounting to a six-figure sum in German marks. That gave her own career a boost. "And Lori deserved the same. What they did to her was a rip-off," Emel is convinced.