krj
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Those Music Mega-Deals
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Feb 10 07:19 UTC 1994 |
I saw a brief squib somewhere reporting that >squiggle<, the musician
formerly known as Prince, had been dumped by Warner Bros, the major
label which handled his boutique label Paisley Park.
The former Mr. Prince had a deal worth a reported $100 mill with
Warners; months after it was signed, he claimed he was retiring
from performing & recording, and he intended to serve up
outtake tracks for the albums he was to deliver to Warners.
Has >squiggle< been dumped for terminal flakiness? Or did
Warners find an exit on their insane contract? The former Mr. Prince
commands a great deal of critical and commercial respect, by
but in sales terms, Michael Jackson he's not. The $100 mill
deal appeared to be the latest in a series of prestige signings
of past-their-prime megastars; I believe that these ludicrous
deals are behind much of the $1-2 rise in the price of CDs over
the last year.
(Others benefitting from lunatic corporate largess: Michael Jackson,
Janet Jackson, Madonna, the Rolling Stones (!!), Aerosmith (!!!)
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