EMI Recorded Music still has value

Durch mysteriöse Umwege ist ein Brief des Terra Firma-Chefs Guy Hands an die Öffentlichkei gelangt, der an die Mitarbeiter des kürzlich von seiner Firma aufgekauften Majors EMI gerichtet ist. Es dreht sich um den Schritt Radioheads zur Selbstpromotion und die Auswirkungen auf eine Plattenfirma wie EMI.

“The recorded music industry, while seeking to develop some of these services, has for too long been dependent on how many CDs can be sold. The industry, rather than embracing digitalisation and the opportunities it brings for promotion of product and distribution through multiple channels, has stuck its head in the sand.”

“EMI Recorded Music still has value to the vast majority of artists – in funding their development and in distributing and marketing their music – but highly successful bands have other alternatives for making money (such as touring) and a few, especially the more established ones, may be able to abandon their label and try to go it alone. You can see why they might choose to do so. Why should they subsidise their label’s new talent roster – or for that matter their record company’s excessive expenditures and advances – particularly when they are providing income to their record company through their catalogue sales? We will need to give artists at all levels a deal that is fair to both sides, perhaps one that moves away from the large advances model of old and provides a true alignment of interests and transparency.”

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