EMI seeks to buy out Mariah
As if pop singer Mariah Carey didn't have enough problems. Carey had to rest for weeks after a highly publicized bout with exhaustion earlier in the year. Now, EMI is trying to buy out the multi-million dollar contract of Carey, according to Reuters.
The news could send tremors through the already-fragile music business. Such major labels as AOL Time Warner's Warner Music (AOL: news, chart, profile) have had a hard time making consistent profits in the business in recent years. With the U.S. economy stuck in quicksand for the past year or more, consumers are cutting back on purchases of such discretionary items as compact discs.
Only three months after the marketplace flop of an initial EMI release, the European music behemoth is trying to buy out Carey's contract by offering a lump-sum payment in return for her exit from EMI's Virgin Records label, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times placed a value of Carey's EMI deal at $80 million for four albums. Other reports have pegged the terms at $118 million for five years. Officials of the parties weren't available for comment, the newspaper reported.
Carey signed with EMI in April after a bitter tenure with Sony, whose music division is run by Carey's ex-husband and erstwhile mentor, Tommy Mottola. Media reports have speculated that Carey is distressed to be hemmed in by Britney Spears and other teen singers who compete intensely with her as well as such peers as Jennifer Lopez and fellow Virgin recording star Janet Jackson.
Further, Carey's album, "Glitter", her first album for Virgin and a soundtrack for a much-criticized movie, has sold only 2 million units since its release in September. By contrast, Carey's 1993 smash album, "Music Box", distributed by Sony, further established Carey as a major star and sold more than 20 million copies in the U.S. and around the world. (CBS Market Watch)
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