EMI Artist Crackdown: Guy Throws the ‘Hand’ Down…
Posted November 15, 2007 — in Music News
The new owner of EMI has said he will drop artists the music group believes are not working hard enough and will overhaul the company’s own executives’ pay packages, the Financial Times reported.
EMI, which has Cold Play, the Rolling Stones and Kylie Minogue on its roster, also threatened to withdraw stars’ lucrative advances if record sales are disappointing.
CEO of Terra Firma Guy Hands said the company would in the future be “more selective in whom we choose to work with.”
While many spend huge amounts of time working with their label to promote, perfect and endorse their music, some unfortunately simply focus on negotiating for the maximum advance … advances which are often never repaid,” Hands said.
The company, which Terra Firma bought for $4.9 billion, has been plagued in the past by late delivery of albums by some of its biggest acts.
Hands also criticized EMI’s “compensation and management system put in place over the last 20 years which does not encourage the right behaviors or reward the right actions.”
“What worries me is that the existing structures have been put in over a couple of decades and unpicking them in a way that releases the good in the company is not going to happen overnight,”.
The bottom line: What is he really saying? That he paid to much for EMI? Basically, he spent 4.9 billion dollars and he can’t get the biggest acts to record and put out music. Hands is crying because he has to pay more and motivate artists to put out records in a shrinking business.
I think that’s the whole problem with the bigger labels. They have too many artists.
No matter how he came to this realization, it’s a good move on his part.
Comment by Tim Towner — November 16, 2007 @ 6:29 am
Having to many artists is not the problem.Big artists always pay for developing artists. EMI has to much overhead and the big artists are not releasing records. Instead Guy Hands comes out slicing and dicing. Same old song and dance. I must agree, he overpaid and entered a business he knows little about.
Guy hands is complaining about big artists advances and over paying. Stop whining and don’t sign artists. If you don’t then someone will.
Comment by tina — November 16, 2007 @ 7:30 am
If you want to cut some of the fat out of these record companies how about cutting the salaries of some of these higher level execs.
That would be a good start….
Comment by Hoodgrown — November 16, 2007 @ 12:33 pm
I’ve been saying that artist budgets/advances need to be cut for a while now. When you actually work with these popular artists and you see their lack of work ethic you begin to see that they’re not worth the money. Some artists cost the label upwards of $50K every time they travel. Yet, they never show up on time for press/promos or cancel all together. Labels need to start treating artists like the employees that they are. Whether or not he’s right or wrong, at least he is aware that something needs to change in the way label handle their artists.
Comment by Webster — November 16, 2007 @ 4:14 pm
“Labels need to start treating artists like the employees that they are.” ????!!!!!!!!
Wow. I am speechless. If you told any employee at any company that operates legally in this country that you would let them bust their butt to hone their skill their whole life, let them work for months on end without a day off, to pay them NOTHING as consideration for the product they sold you would get kicked in the face. Seriously, what label do you work for? Let us all know so we can NEVER CONSIDER WORKING WITH YOU. And I loved how you used “in the way label handle their artists” after the previous quote. You can “handle” Fergie. You can “handle” any other BULLSHIT ARTIST that you promote through soft drinks and slutty clothing lines. BUT YOU CAN’T “HANDLE” A TRUE ARTIST. If you would have told the boys in Zeppelin how you would “handle” them, they would have thrown your ass off of their balcony Shug Knight style…… only better. “Handle” THE EAGLES. They just went and sold a fucking million records AT ONE STORE WITHOUT YOU ASSHOLES. Seriously, this is stupid. Go keep signing these bullshit assclowns you have been coming out with, the rest of us will find our own money and do it without “being employeed” or “handled” by you dicks.
Comment by Facekicker — November 19, 2007 @ 8:40 am