Mariah will Carey on without record label
The word came out yesterday from the Los Angeles Times, and then on Reuters, that Mariah Carey is negotiating her way out of her $20 million per album deal with EMI Music/Virgin Records. This is supposedly because Mariah's Glitter album was such a stiff. Since Glitter was released, and Mariah recovered from a nervous breakdown, the people who signed her to EMI were fired, and Mariah was left without an advocate at the massive, anonymous company.
In truth, EMI knew what it was getting into when they signed Carey and took on the Glitter project. No one there can say they didn't know what the album was, or how it would be marketed. What they couldn't have counted on, though, was interference by Sony Music with Carey's career. Mariah even hired a private detective to investigate rumors that Sony - really, Sony COO Tommy Mottola, Mariah's ex husband - was conspiring against her.
The coup de grace was Sony's release of Mariah's greatest hits album two weeks ago - this release cut into her new career and, dumped by Sony into the marketplace without promotion or marketing, was guaranteed to flop like a flounder. And so it has.
If Mariah is indeed leaving EMI after one album, it's no embarrassment for her, and no precedent either. Bob Dylan went over to David Geffen's Asylum Records in the mid-1970s and recorded two albums before returning to the old Columbia Records. Paul McCartney drifted over to Columbia Records from Capitol (now EMI), fizzled, and went back to Capitol. Diana Ross went from Motown to RCA and back to Motown. It happens.
Not to say Mariah will return to Columbia, or Sony - that's highly doubtful given her antagonistic relationship with Mottola. But plenty of labels could remake Mariah into a star. Most often mentioned is Clive Davis's J Records. Of course, Carey would have to listen to Davis and do what he says - which would include advice to lose the cleavage and the hip-hop friends. Other labels where she could find money and fame would be Warner Bros., Dreamworks and Arista.
With the right management, and some thought, Carey will be back on top in no time. The question is, how will EMI save face after this - among other - debacles? My guess is big name acts will be reluctant to sign with a company that can't stand behind its artists. This hasn't been a kind year for this company - witness the flops of new albums by McCartney and Mick Jagger. (Fox News)
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