| mickyparise 07.05.2010 22:51 |
They once wanted to break free — and now they have: the veteran rock band Queen have quit the beleaguered music label EMI for its rival Universal. Queen, who have been with the heavily indebted British label for almost 40 years, are believed to have been lured to Universal with a new contract worth tens of millions of pounds. The band’s exit follows the departure of Sir Paul McCartney, who took his solo and Wings back catalogue to Concord Music this year. There have been concerns that the financial turmoil at EMI, whose private equity owner Terra Firma is trying to raise at least £105 million to save the company from bankruptcy, could prompt an artist exodus. Music industry insiders have suggested that Pink Floyd could also quit the label. However, people familiar with the situation said yesterday that Queen had moved to Universal primarily for the money. “EMI just decided they couldn’t compete. It was too much to pay and they want to spend that money on developing new talent,” one music industry insider said. Another person close to the deal said that Queen, whose Greatest Hits has sold 5.4 million copies, making it the UK’s highest-selling album, would not move to Universal immediately. The band, whose former lead singer Freddie Mercury died in 1991, are expected to see out their contract, which expires at the end of this year. The move comes as the Terra Firma boss Guy Hands tries to tempt the private equity fund’s investors to back a bailout of the music group, which it took private in 2007 for £4.2 billion. It is understood the investors have already been briefed about Queen’s departure and the move has been factored into a turnaround plan drawn up by EMI executive chairman Charles Allen. Mr Hands has told Terra Firma’s investors they could make a profit up to 58 per cent if they invested an extra £360 million in the company. In a presentation sent to investors last week, he said that the “upside case” for saving EMI from its lender Citigroup with a bailout of that size is that, if the company were to be sold before 2015, investors would pocket £208 million, thus recovering all their equity investment. The presentation also shows that Mr Hands has backed down from earlier plans to present a wholesale £360 million bailout as the only option for investors. Terra Firma had argued that a payout that big was the best way to ensure a turnaround at EMI because it would protect the company from Citigroup until 2015.Mr Hands is now asking investors for £105 million now, plus £255 million later. The music giant needs to find £105 million by next Friday to avoid a covenant breach and will fall into the hands of Citigroup unless investors stump up that money. People close to the situation said yesterday that Terra Firma has had verbal commitments from its investors that they will put in the £105 million. Queen are essentially a catalogue act, although Brian May and Roger Taylor — two of the band members — still perform live, albeit infrequently. link |
| people on streets 07.05.2010 23:34 |
Thanks for posting. Interesting read |
| PieterMC 08.05.2010 00:12 |
About damn time. Now ditch Hollywood and things will be great. |
| vessel 08.05.2010 00:43 |
Three questions. Will Universal re release all the albums again? 2. Will we now finally have a better shot at seeing the anthologies? And will this move have any effect in the U.S.? |
| inu-liger 08.05.2010 01:50 |
I highly doubt Universal are going to keep the EMI type status quo and rehash everything over and over. They WILL want to expect some sort of NEW product from Queen considering the money they WILL be investing into the deal (they DO have a say after all, in that understandable regard), so hopefully things like the Anthologies will come into fruition finally thanks to the switchover. |
| philip storey 08.05.2010 04:29 |
This is very good news ! |
| Pim Derks 08.05.2010 06:09 |
Bring on Ultimate Queen, a 2-CD set with all the a-sides from the Singles Collection boxsets! |
| Simon Brown 08.05.2010 06:10 |
Oh, HOORAY! Best news in a very very long time. Come on the Universal Deluxe series Queen releases! |
| And91 08.05.2010 18:51 |
Maybe now appears the "Greatest Video Hits 3" and shows of the '70s. |
| Jean_Luc2000 08.05.2010 19:15 |
Do you think they consulted John Deacon before moving? |
| Winter Land Man 08.05.2010 23:58 |
John Deacon is also consulted. I am expecting a Made In Heaven II ... honestly. There's more near complete songs in the vaults than they say. Brian's said something like "We have an archivist who locates songs and things on a daily basis that we could complete in the future and release". I wouldn't be surprised if they have enough material to do a whole album with songs that have never been released in any kind of way, and with Freddie on vocals! I don't just think of this as a kind of "dream", I think it's actual reality that they have a lot of songs being kept back. I think Brian, in particular, doesn't wasn't want to release them yet, due to the fact that he knows he's not dying, and releasing the rest of good things in the vaults, would be like ending his total Queen career. I even believe there's stuff written during and after the Innuendo sessions, that are near complete. "Write me more songs! More words! I'll bring in everything I can" proclaimed Freddie during the Innuendo sessions, and during the sessions after Innuendo was released. |
| cmsdrums 09.05.2010 03:52 |
I think that this is potentially good news for the new releases we want to see (new concert DVDs, possible archives, new recordings), but also bad news in that the hits catalogue will undoubtedly be rehashed and repackaged too because that wil be the main way for Universal to recoup their outlay |
| Benn Kempster 09.05.2010 09:49 |
>>Brian's said something like "We have an archivist who locates songs and things on a daily basis that we could complete in the future and release" The SINGLE funniest thing I have read in a very long time. |
| Soundfreak 09.05.2010 10:26 |
This does not come as a surprise at all. (In fact I told you before in a topic about the "non release of the Anthology project" and such...) But now - don't expect too much. Better - don't expect anything ! The Rolling Stones also went to Universal recently and had their 70s catalogue released. No extras, no new booklets...nothing. "Exile on Main Street" being released later this month will be the first ever Stones studio album getting a "deluxe " treatment. So there is a litte light but not much.... Jimi Hendrix (or better his estate) went to Universal a while ago and now we have the same original albums remastered for the fourth or fifth time...no extras, no mono mixes.....just some additional short DVDs with interviews being mostly available before...not essential at all. So I will wait and not buy anything, if there is just another label printed on the same stuff again... |
| Benn Kempster 09.05.2010 15:26 |
Absolutely - we'll see another set of re-issued original albums in their original form but with the Universal brand on them as soon as the EMI versions are able to be withdrawn from the market. We'll then have a Universal branded "Best Of" collection. I'd reckon we'll perhaps get a GH3 DVD as the first "original" Universal release or, better for them, a 3-disc set that usurps the existing GH1 & 2 DVDs from EMI. Would be interesting to know what Queen are obligated to EMI for in terms of releases before the end of their contract. Hammersmith '75 almost certainly, but another audio-release? As for the Deluxe / rarities / Anthology issue - Universal can only release what QPL gives them to release. If QPL sign a "blanket" contract with no specific mention of any anthology series, then we just ain't gonna get it. The status quo will remain as long as Beach is at the helm. |
| plumrach 10.05.2010 02:37 |
Would be nice to see a gh3 with the innuendo singles on their and the budapest dvd |
| AlexRocks 10.05.2010 18:27 |
I love "Greatest Hits 3" the way that it is actually. |
| Makka 10.05.2010 21:36 |
Wow, EMI have really lost some BIG bands of late....Queen, Radiohead et al. Not looking good for them really. |
| Winter Land Man 11.05.2010 01:15 |
Benn Kempster wrote: >>Brian's said something like "We have an archivist who locates songs and things on a daily basis that we could complete in the future and release" The SINGLE funniest thing I have read in a very long time. It's funny, but true. Look it up on his damn site. |
| calibre 11.05.2010 06:56 |
kinda makes the lyric in 'let me entertain you' redundant though doesn't it!? (...with Elektra and EMI, we'll show you where it's at!) |
| Soundfreak 11.05.2010 10:06 |
Seems like Pink Floyd are also leaving the sinking ship.... link |
| Amazon 11.05.2010 13:33 |
AlexRocks wrote: "I love "Greatest Hits 3" the way that it is actually." So do I. While I uderstand why many people don't like it (it's not really a proper GH album); I nonetheless like it alot, especially since it has stuff I otherwise wouldn't own. |
| brians wig 11.05.2010 14:57 |
Blue Roses Unlimited wrote: John Deacon is also consulted. I am expecting a Made In Heaven II ... honestly. There's more near complete songs in the vaults than they say. Brian's said something like "We have an archivist who locates songs and things on a daily basis that we could complete in the future and release". Roger stated quite catagorically in his fan club Q&A last month that there will never be another MIH style album. Still That shouldn't stop them releasing an album of previously completed material or a few singles at the very least. It's be interesting to see what happens. |
| brians wig 11.05.2010 14:59 |
Soundfreak wrote: The Rolling Stones also went to Universal recently and had their 70s catalogue released. No extras, no new booklets...nothing. They ARE remastered though, and the Queen albums DO need remastering properly as the singles boxset remasters clearly show! |
| inu-liger 11.05.2010 16:46 |
brians wig wrote: Soundfreak wrote: The Rolling Stones also went to Universal recently and had their 70s catalogue released. No extras, no new booklets...nothing. They ARE remastered though, and the Queen albums DO need remastering properly as the singles boxset remasters clearly show! ================= Didn't the Stones' remastered album also get pushed out on SACD? Or is that another band's recently remastered catalogue I'm thinking of? |
| Soundfreak 12.05.2010 02:37 |
brians wig wrote: They ARE remastered though, and the Queen albums DO need remastering properly as the singles boxset remasters clearly show! <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< If you consider raising the loudness level for three dB and using a limiter, that takes away the dynamics as "remastering", then you may be right. But the Virgin remasters still are the best leaving the dynamics intact. So I don't need Queen albums compressed to death. What I need are the Queen albums remixed from the multitracks. Anything else you can easily do with good home equipment. And if you "remaster" Queen II for example, you will find out, that there are many clicks and noises buried in the muddy original mix. And this can only be repaired properly when you go back to the multitracks. |
| Soundfreak 12.05.2010 03:15 |
inu-liger wrote: Didn't the Stones' remastered album also get pushed out on SACD? Or is that another band's recently remastered catalogue I'm thinking of? Only their 60s cataloque was remastered on SACD some years ago. |
| ok.computer 12.05.2010 14:55 |
"Jimi Hendrix (or better his estate) went to Universal a while ago and now we have the same original albums remastered for the fourth or fifth time...no extras, no mono mixes.....just some additional short DVDs with interviews being mostly available before...not essential at all." Yeah but it isn't you - or indeed very many - of the people on this site that they aiming this sort of material at. It's the new fans, the upcoming ones. Indeed, they probably aren't even aiming them at the "CD-buying" public any more. I'm in my mid-30s and I stopped being a sales target for record labels at least three years ago. Also, while I still love to "own the original", I increasingly have an eclectic hard-drive of much smaller acts, local bands etc, that may never see the inside of a record label's office. The entire music-buying model has and still is changing - anybody familiar with how Belfast-artist Duke Special recently raised the money for his marketing will know this. This is a smart move by Queen - and yes, as someone points out further up, new or fresh material will be expected. But I'd say that Brian, Roger and to some extent, John are at that stage in their careers where they are seeking the sort of organisation that will cement and solidify their musical legacy. |