There still seems to be a lot of confusion on who “owns” LYMHYB…

So let’s clear it up…

Atlantic owns the master recordings. This was confirmed by Oliver himself.

Oliver was granted permission to release the album on his label as part of his negotiated exit from his contract, likely for a higher percentage of residuals on the project until his advance/ buyout was completed. This is very common in situations like the one he was in.

The exact terms of his contract buyout will likely never be known, but the fact of Atlantic owning the master recordings is 100% fact.

Below is the quote where Oliver said it most directly on The Really Good Podcast, after the album released, and not long before his passing.

“They still will, basically, get paid for this (talking about LYMHYB), but I got to release the music. I got to release it through my independent Alien Boy Records record label, but because they paid for the music, there were two options… it was either the music doesn’t come out, or they can still get the residuals.”

Again, it’s very common for an artist to be able to release an album on their own label, but the main label still owning the master recordings. Oliver’s residuals come from publishing (aka writing the songs).