Paul McCartney said to have signed to new record label
Paul McCartney is reportedly set to leave longtime record label Capitol/EMI to move his back catalogue and future releases to a new label being launched by the Starbucks coffee chain. Foxnews.com reported that McCartney has turned down a nearly $50 million deal his longtime label has offered him for his next four albums to become the Starbucks label's first signing. According to various reports, McCartney's upcoming album will be released sometime between May and early fall.
Macca, who owns all of the masters for his post-Beatles work will be leaving longtime home EMI, which was the label that first signed the Beatles in 1962. McCartney's U.S. label, Capitol, a subsidiary of EMI, began issuing Beatles albums in 1964. Except for a six-year break in the late '70s and early '80s when McCartney had a U.S. distribution deal with Columbia, Capitol has been his U.S. base of operations for his entire career.
Although no statement by Macca or Starbucks has been issued, an announcement is expected soon.
A source close to the situation said that, "(Capitol/EMI) knew it was coming. They did nothing for (McCartney's last album) Chaos And Creation In The Backyard and they were reminded that McCartney's entire contract was ending."
An industry source added that, "Starbucks has proven to be a much more effective seller of CD's and DVDs than record stores, thanks to their amazing retailing and branding... Starbucks customers have come to regard non-coffee product merchandise as hip and attractive, while record companies have been unable to reach customers at all in recent years."
Starbucks has recently had tremendous success selling albums by such artists as Bob Dylan, Alanis Morrisette, John Lennon, and was responsible for selling nearly 400,000 copies of Ray Charles' Grammy winning posthumous album Genius Loves Company.
Britain's The Daily Mail reported that McCartney may have decided to forsake the Capitol/EMI deal, which would be payable immediately, in an effort to keep the money away from the current divorce settlement proceedings with estranged wife Heather Mills. A more logical reason could be that with the record industry in a state of flux, and with Capitol/EMI merging with Virgin, McCartney might not know how he would fit in with the new label.
EMI/Capitol still owns and distributes the Beatles' entire catalogue.
Beatlefan magazine's executive editor Al Sussman says that McCartney teaming with Starbucks would do wonders in bringing McCartney's catalogue back into the public eye, explaining that, "I think it's a real coup for Starbucks to get his '70s (and) early-'80s albums. Hopefully, we'll see the release of his remastered catalogue, with the bonus tracks from the 1993 reissue program that never was issued (in the States). For McCartney's new albums, it's a lot less certain because he hasn't had a hit album with legs in a long time."
It's still unsure which of McCartney's 37 solo albums -- including albums with Wings, and the rest of his mainstream, live, orchestral and experimental pieces -- would be sold though the new Starbucks label, but it's a safe bet that classic albums such as Ram, Red Rose Speedway, Band On The Run, Venus And Mars, Tug Of War, and Flowers In The Dirt would be among them.
After the Beatles' second recording contract with Capitol/EMI ran out in 1976, McCartney was the only member to re-sign with the label. In recent years, all of John Lennon and George Harrison's solo catalogues have been reissued by Capitol/EMI.
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Macca, who owns all of the masters for his post-Beatles work will be leaving longtime home EMI, which was the label that first signed the Beatles in 1962. McCartney's U.S. label, Capitol, a subsidiary of EMI, began issuing Beatles albums in 1964. Except for a six-year break in the late '70s and early '80s when McCartney had a U.S. distribution deal with Columbia, Capitol has been his U.S. base of operations for his entire career.
Although no statement by Macca or Starbucks has been issued, an announcement is expected soon.
A source close to the situation said that, "(Capitol/EMI) knew it was coming. They did nothing for (McCartney's last album) Chaos And Creation In The Backyard and they were reminded that McCartney's entire contract was ending."
An industry source added that, "Starbucks has proven to be a much more effective seller of CD's and DVDs than record stores, thanks to their amazing retailing and branding... Starbucks customers have come to regard non-coffee product merchandise as hip and attractive, while record companies have been unable to reach customers at all in recent years."
Starbucks has recently had tremendous success selling albums by such artists as Bob Dylan, Alanis Morrisette, John Lennon, and was responsible for selling nearly 400,000 copies of Ray Charles' Grammy winning posthumous album Genius Loves Company.
Britain's The Daily Mail reported that McCartney may have decided to forsake the Capitol/EMI deal, which would be payable immediately, in an effort to keep the money away from the current divorce settlement proceedings with estranged wife Heather Mills. A more logical reason could be that with the record industry in a state of flux, and with Capitol/EMI merging with Virgin, McCartney might not know how he would fit in with the new label.
EMI/Capitol still owns and distributes the Beatles' entire catalogue.
Beatlefan magazine's executive editor Al Sussman says that McCartney teaming with Starbucks would do wonders in bringing McCartney's catalogue back into the public eye, explaining that, "I think it's a real coup for Starbucks to get his '70s (and) early-'80s albums. Hopefully, we'll see the release of his remastered catalogue, with the bonus tracks from the 1993 reissue program that never was issued (in the States). For McCartney's new albums, it's a lot less certain because he hasn't had a hit album with legs in a long time."
It's still unsure which of McCartney's 37 solo albums -- including albums with Wings, and the rest of his mainstream, live, orchestral and experimental pieces -- would be sold though the new Starbucks label, but it's a safe bet that classic albums such as Ram, Red Rose Speedway, Band On The Run, Venus And Mars, Tug Of War, and Flowers In The Dirt would be among them.
After the Beatles' second recording contract with Capitol/EMI ran out in 1976, McCartney was the only member to re-sign with the label. In recent years, all of John Lennon and George Harrison's solo catalogues have been reissued by Capitol/EMI.
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