NICOLIED AND DIMED TO DEATH
ARTISTS CALL FOR LEGAL ACTION AGAINST ERIC NICOLI AND EMI

Within the relationship between a record company and an artist, be they composer or performer, is an inherent and profound obligation that the company shall protect, to the greatest extent of their ability, the performances of the artist from unpaid exploitation and use. Now some
cynics may chuckle at this statement, but in all seriousness, the protection of performances from pirated use is in the best interests of both company and artist.

Mr Eric Nicoli’s desire to allow the unprotected and piecemeal exploitation of the music created and performed by EMI and Capitol artists reflects the sensibility of a bootlegging flea market hustler who has no comprehension of this obligation or of the experience of listening to an aural artistic statement. His decision to release music, without protection, is one consistent with an attitude that thinks recorded music is only ephemeral, short term and utterly disposable; it is of the attitude that fails to comprehend that the catalog of a record label is it’s heart and lifeblood, that the artists and their music are the company.

His decision is of the ignorance that does not understand why the words of Tolstoy, Chaucer, Fitzgerald, Steinbeck and Kafka sell long after their deaths. Or despite them not being on the cover of People magazine lately.

It is of the notion that a functioning Rolls Royce should be sold as spare parts because of its old age. It is the exploitive attitude of an executive who believes more in creative accounting rather than artistic creativity.

There is an inherent implication in this decision that his own short term concerns, his enumeration package and golden parachute, are of a greater imperative than the health of the company he heads in particular, and the wellbeing of the music business in general. How many people did he fire from the Capitol Tower last month, and how many are left there now? Is it really true The Tower will become condominiums and the parking lot will be a used car business selling the A&R department’s pre-owned Porsches? Will he leave the place better than when he found it?

Our personal experience of EMI/Capitol, under Mr Nicoli and his predecessor, has been one of incompetence and dishonesty - the royalty statements offered are, in the main, indecipherable and/or farcical. This after spending, according to Capitol Business Affairs, some $50,000,000, [fifty million dollars], to create a digital accounting system.

Already the attitude of too many companies is based in a deceit, with their restrictions against discovery, and a determination to only pay cents on the dollar when audits reveal discrepancies. “Catch us if you can. And if you do, we’ll hold your royalties to prevent you hiring a lawyer.” Mr Nicoli personifies this approach. When questioned about statement irregularities his response was to disconnect telephone communication by blocking numbers.

“Turn the Tower into a fortress”, he was quoted as saying. Mr Nicoli also stated, in USA Today, that he is willing to trust the public. No doubt he leaves his unattended car and house unlocked. Ever see the gates and all the guards at the Capitol Tower in Los Angeles? It was, once, a fortress, before being breached by BitTorrent.

Mr Nicoli is entirely inappropriate to run a company that is the keeper of the legacies of brilliant minds such as John Lennon. Would Mr Nicoli hesitate for a second from allowing the song ‘Imagine’ to be used to sell prophylactic products? We think not, for Mr Nicoli demonstrates no empathy with the hearts or souls of musicians when he demonstrates no imperative to protect his company and its artists from vulnerability.

Furthermore, Mr Nicoli does not seem to understand that the work behind composing an entire Pink Floyd album is designed to create an aural experience that stimulates a connection between us all within the humanity of self and mutual recognition. To Mr Nicoli, apparently, albums are merely accumulations of sound bites to be piecemealed away for the greatest short term gain. That’s cold and it don’t play around here.

Mr Nicoli expresses no particular concern that artists and performers will be deprived by gravy boat piracy. In fact we believe he has no concern for the musician, or the company, whatsoever. Running EMI is more likely ‘all about Eric’, his aforementioned package and his executive ego. His decision does not exhibit the conservator’s sense of responsibility. As such Mr Nicoli is very much the kind of individual who has allowed the music business to fall into disrepute and chaos.

The Golden Age of Warner Brothers Records was forged under the philosophy “let the artist take care of the music, and the music will take care of the company”. In other words, protect and honor the artist. We strongly suspect Mr Nicoli’s philosophy is “I’ll help myself to a sweet Apple deal and then you all can help yourselves to the music”. Will Mr Jobs now give away his iPODs too?

The vast majority of musicians, composers and producers do not make much from their work. Most get by on nickels and dimes, the few that trickle out of reserves and recoupment demands. The company takes the dollars. And then charges a packaging deduction on a download. There is only one McCartney. For most of the rest of the music world every penny counts every month when the rent must be paid and the electric kept on. We too have families to sustain. Mr Nicoli has no apparent concern for this. His is the existence, and experience, of the company jet, the exclusive table and a gargantuan expense account. All paid for by others through the creation and performance of their intellectual properties.

Consider for a moment what kind of a joyless life would we have without musicians, without access to their recorded work, especially those who comment on the rotten behavior of the deviant elite, the greedy fat cats and our corrupt politicians? It would be grey and banal, mean spirited and exploitive. It would be cowed and fearful. “A Fascist regime”, to quote an old Pistol.

We urge everyone who has ever recorded for Capitol or EMI to contact their attorney and inspire them to file an injunction against Nicoli’s decision, made against the best interests of the company and recording artists he ought to be protecting. Need a lawyer? We recommend, for one, Neville Johnson in Los Angeles, who we understand to be very interested in Capitol/EMI’s digital downloading; (310) 975 1080. Then call Edgar Bronfman Jr, who, in USA Today questions Mr Nicoli’s ‘logic’, if not his ethics and sanity, at his Universal office and ask him to capitalize such legal actions. Tell him we’ll happily contribute a couple of Capitol nickels and an EMI dime.

Heather Vincent-Niven
[co-founder of Sedona School of Spiritual Sciences and Tru-b-dor]

Alan Vincent-Niven
[composer and producer; formerly of Virgin Records; WINZ-Zeta 4; Greenworld Distribution; co-founder of ENIGMA Records; founder and majority owner of Stravinski Brothers Productions Inc; former manager of Guns n' Roses; Great White; Clarence Clemons; Izzy Stradlin and The JuJu Hounds et alia; co-founder of Tru-b-dor;].