Story confirmed on the Official Site.

 

Link here

 

http://www.robbiewilliams.com/news-blogs/r...universal-music

'David Joseph, Universal Music UK chairman & CEO, says: “Having had the chance to listen to the music I’ve no doubt that Robbie is currently at his most creatively inspired. We are about to witness something very special.”

 

I suppose he would say that. But still, I'm rather excited. :w00t:

 

Was hoping for a new solo album earlier than next autumn mind :(

Same label as TT then. Very cosy. :unsure:

I don't know... when you put songs in the fridge for too long they may get greasy.

Universal was Robbie's only choice imo. It is the most suitable label for him for now.

 

Why am I not surprised that all these sh*t about Gary writing the music and the two of them having finished an album full of classics was proven wrong?

It doesn't mean that the two of them are not working together or no progress has been made at all but lets face it, Robbie would take his time with this album.

Robbie Williams splits with EMI after £80 million deal that went sour

 

http://i51.tinypic.com/sm3fvp.jpg

 

Robbie Williams’s long and lately acrimonious relationship with EMI finally ended yesterday when the singer announced a deal for a new solo album with the British record company’s biggest rival, Universal Music.

 

The decision by the highest-selling solo artist in British history is a blow for debt-laden EMI, which is up for sale but struggling to attract the asking price.

 

The new contract with US-based Universal is for a single studio album to be released next autumn. It gives Williams far more control than the wide-ranging deal, reportedly worth £80 million, which he signed with EMI in 2002.

 

Back then he said of the record-breaking deal: “I’m rich beyond my wildest dreams.” But the relationship with EMI, which began in 1996, had soured by 2008, when he reportedly went “on strike”.

 

His unhappiness with the company was partly linked to its purchase by the venture capitalist firm Terra Firma, which resulted in EMI becoming heavily burdened with debt. Williams’s manager, Tim Clark, reportedly accused the company boss at the time, Guy Hands, of behaving like a “plantation owner”.

 

Radiohead and Sir Paul McCartney were among the EMI stalwarts who left EMI about that time.

 

Mr Clark, who has worked with Williams since he left Take That in 1995, said: “This great new deal puts Robbie Williams firmly in control of his own destiny but with the most muscular of partners.”

 

A Universal spokesman said: “It’s a different kind of deal in a different landscape.”

 

Williams, who is recording new solo material in his Los Angeles studio, left Take That for a second time after this year’s sellout European tour.

 

This time he left the door clearly open to rejoin the four other members of the original and most successful British boyband.

 

Gary Barlow said this month: “It ended perfectly. And you know what, we can revisit it whenever we want.

 

“He’s our brother, Rob is, and if he’s ever in trouble or he wants to have a year off being Robbie Williams, he’s welcome any time he wants.”

 

Williams already has some experience with Universal as it is the home of Take That, and released his reunion album with the band, Progress, last year. Universal, which is based in the US but owned by the French conglomerate Vivendi, already handles Williams’s merchandise through its Bravado division.

 

Williams said: “I’m really thrilled to be joining the Universal family at what I think is the most exciting time in my career.”

 

He will need to stage quite a comeback to live up to that statement. Industry sources said that Williams’s management had tried in recent months to hold an auction for a new deal with a starting price of £30 million but found no takers.

 

Reality Killed The Video Star, his last studio album released in 2009, sold about a million copies in the UK but received mixed reviews. Unlike his previous seven solo albums, Reality failed to reach No 1 in the UK album chart, ironically beaten by the X Factor boyband JLS.

 

Williams may find his break from EMI is short-lived because Universal has bid for the company’s recorded music arm, which retains the rights over his previous albums.

 

Citigroup, the American bank, seized control of EMI from Terra Firma in January after the financial crisis and declining revenues from music sales left the company struggling to meet loan repayments.

 

Citigroup is in the closing stages of its sale of EMI, which is likely to pass into foreign ownership and may be broken up.

 

 

 

Times UK

Robbie Williams joins UMG from EMI

 

We don’t usually cover artist/label deals unless there’s an interesting digital angle, but we’ll make an exception for Robbie Williams’ signing to Universal Music Group, having come to the end of his famously-lucrative (for him) deal with EMI. That agreement was reported at the time to be worth as much as £80 million to the artist, but it’s fairly clear Williams hasn’t scored that kind of lucre this time: the Financial Times reports that his UMG deal is for one album only, with the label providing marketing, distribution and merchandising services. “This great new deal puts Robbie Williams firmly in control of his own destiny, but with the most muscular of partners,” says manager Tim Clark. What’s interesting is that Clark is known as one of the savvier managers when it comes to making the most of new opportunities. He clearly decided a UMG deal was more advantageous than going it alone Radiohead-style. Which isn’t to say labels beat D2C – just that the assumption that big artists reaching the end of a contract will always shun labels isn’t true.

 

 

 

wwwmusically.com

makes the process of rob joining up with TT again in the future much easier than crossing labels.

Was it worth his while quitting? Now that Universal have bought EMI? :unsure:

Was it worth his while quitting? Now that Universal have bought EMI? :unsure:

 

 

I bet he got well paid for it though !!! <_<