TLC Paid $2 Million Just to Own Their Own Name

TLC paid their own manager $2 million just to be allowed to use the name “TLC.” The woman negotiating their contract was the same woman sitting on the other side of the table — their manager, their production company, and married to the head of their record label, all at once. Three teenagers signed away years of their future to the one person who was supposed to protect it. This is the true story of how TLC sold over 10 million records, ended up broke, and had to fight for two years just to own their own name. Real court documents. Real numbers. Real consequences. This is the first episode of “The Deal They Made” — a series about the artists the music industry broke, and the deals that broke them. 🔔 Subscribe for the next story. Sources referenced in this video: The Los Angeles Times (1996), The New York Times (1996), U.S. Bankruptcy Court records (Bankr. N.D. Ga.), Billboard.