A former music executive at Def Jam is accusing the label of manipulating Soundscan results, in an attempt to distort music charts.Theresa Rossi, filed the $22 million dollar lawsuit, claiming that Def Jam hired a marketing company, Giaco Entertainment.The lawsuit claims that Giaco, owned by Joe Giaco, forced merchants to repeatedly swipe free CD’s of Def Jam artists, in an attempt to inflate the number of units scanned.Retailers were allegedly threatened with album delays if they did not participate.Giaco’s lawyer called the allegations “patently untrue.”Universal allegedly severed their ties with Giaco in 2001 after a Los Angeles Times article, focusing on the inflation of sales data by independent retailers.The lawsuit then claims that Def Jam President Kevin Liles and Giaco created a new company, Entertainment Marketing Services with Rossi as principal, in an attempt to allegedly conceal the relationship from other Universal executives.The lawsuit was filed after Giaco refused to show the company’s earnings and withholding Rossi’s share of the profits.Universal, Def Jam, Joe Giaco and Def Jam executives Kevin Liles and Mignon Espy are named in the lawsuit.
