Steveland Judkins Morris, more commonly known as Stevie Wonder, remains to this day one of the most talented and innovative people to make his mark on the music industry. Wonder grew up in Saginaw, Michigan, and was signed to Motown Records in 1961 at the age of eleven. He soon became a Motown superstar: the combination of his novel aesthetic, raw instrumental talent and cheerful stage presence won him acclaim. Yet his music at Motown was derivative of that of other Motown artists, because Berry Gordy, Motown's CEO, committed to rigorous policies of respectability and quality control when it came to the sound and image of his artists. As a result, Wonder's musical creativity was constantly overlooked and stifled, as Gordy was unable to make strides with his artists, continually falling back on the formula he had put in place. By the early 1970s, Wonder was ready for more freedom. When he turned 21, he was released from his original contract with Motown and was able to renegotiate it, ensuring greater artistic freedom. Through the renegotiation of his contract with Motown, Stevie Wonder set the precedent for other Motown artists to fight against the restrictive company's creative freedom, the importance of which is demonstrated by the innovations in pop music that soon came from Wonder and other Motown artists. Motown who have reoriented their contracts. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay Before Wonder made the bold move to renegotiate his contract, he and other Motown artists were completely under Gordy's control, creatively and financially. Motown's overall priority was to create music that appealed to all races and to move from black radio to pop stations. In Mark Ribowsky's opinionated biography of Stevie Wonder, Signed, Sealed, and Delivered, he reflects on these musical priorities and recounts how Gordy once explained: "Motown never put out a blues record... all Motown records were records pop". Regarding production, publishing and performance, the artists and their music were strictly controlled through quality control systems. The music was initially taken to a company-assigned music director, such as Gene Kees, who would take it to Motown, where it would be recorded and arranged. They would bring the artist in afterwards to record: without giving them any creative supervision. And, once created, the music was sent to consultants who would critique or approve it. The music itself contained only lighthearted lyrics typically in the form of love songs. Wonder's early music at Motown is indicative of this. His first number one hit, "Fingertips, Part 2," is a call-and-response pop song, in which he asks the audience to "clap just a little louder." The Holland-Dozier-Holland production team produced most of Motown's music with Gordy's crossover specifications in mind. To meet crossover requirements, many Motown artists underwent serious branding. The Supremes were the “sweethearts of Motown” with their sweet, straightforward, refined looks, and Stevie Wonder was the “little Stevie Wonder”: the cute “homely type of blind actor” (1390) who could sing. Ribowsky described Wonder's brand as "cynical," claiming that he "underestimated Stevie's talent" (1390). Ribowsky's strong opinions are certainly in line with Wonder's treatment at Motown. Motown producer and songwriter Clarence Paul was alsoquoted as saying that Gordy's manipulation of Wonder was excessive. In fact, Gordy wanted to drop Wonder from the label when he hit puberty. His changing voice no longer filled the "Little Stevie Wonder" persona. As an adult, he was simply Stevie Wonder. As Wonder grew up, his desire for more musical freedom increased, leading him to renegotiate his contract with Motown after turning 21. In his initial contract, drawn up when he was just 11 years old, Wonder was earning a 2% royalty on his retail recordings sold by Motown. Berry Gordy Jr. Enterprises took 25% of the total earnings and billed Wonder for recording costs. Most shocking to Wonder was that he had absolutely no creative oversight over his music. Critic Adam White noted that "Gordy's enterprise was a start-up, seeking any revenue opportunity in an industry where capital was elusive and the risks, particularly for a black businessman, were high ". Therefore, Gordy's practices made sense under the circumstances, but they didn't work for Wonder. On May 21, 1971, Motown had the right to grant him access to the royalties he had earned over the past ten years. While Wonder had sold approximately thirty-five million records, entitling him to at least $3.5 million on his birthday, only $1 million was in the trust fund where Motown had retained his royalties. greater creative freedom, led Wonder to delay signing a new contract. He moved to New York and began working on new material. Despite offers from CBS Records, he ultimately decided to resign from Motown, however this time he was represented by Jonathan Vigoda. An intelligent and determined lawyer, Vigoda played an important role in Wonder's acquisition of artistic freedom. In his autobiography, Gordy described these negotiations as "exhausting and nerve-racking." But the new 21-page contract was revolutionary for Wonder: It renewed his recording contract, increased his royalty rate as a musician to 14%, granted him full artistic control over his music, gave him his own publishing company, and gave him an advance of more than $900,000. These conditions were unheard of for a Motown contract at the time, and when other artists heard of what Wonder had accomplished, many were inspired to follow suit. The musical risks that Wonder was now free to take, and the success he found with them, namely synth tropes, have had a major influence on pop music from the 1970s to the present day. When the first music synthesizer sold in stores was released, Wonder took full advantage of Moog and TONTO synthesizers,6 but never used synthesizers to replace strings. This led to a new use of the synthesizer: improving and deepening the musical spatial field. His first release after the renegotiation was Music of My Mind in 1972. Unlike Motown, where usually the Funk Brothers or other studio musicians were recorded on his tracks, Wonder played almost all instruments on Music of My Mind. On his album Inversions, Wonder explored political and social themes in his music, demonstrating a talent for songwriting that he was unable to exploit at Motown. Looking at modern music, you can see these trends reflected. Artists are very often the headhunters of their own careers. For many, the music they make has significant importance. In terms of specific elements of Wonder's music, the stylistic choices in his 1970s work, including innovative synth tropes, have influenced future generations well into the present. John Legend has.