Radiohead quit, Robbie Williams on strike - and now 1,000 jobs cut

Artists lose patience with management at once iconic record label following private equity takeover

Julia Finch, Owen Gibson and Alex Needham The Guardian, Saturday January 12 2008

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Advertising guide License/buy our content About this articleClose This article appeared in the Guardian on Saturday January 12 2008 on p9 of the UK news section. It was last updated at 23:44 on January 11 2008. It was never going to be an easy relationship: hard-nosed City financiers and businessmen working alongside songwriters and musicians.

 

The men in suits reckon that working together they can revitalise EMI, the struggling group which has been a key part of the British pop industry for more than 40 years. It is the label behind the Beatles, Queen, Pink Floyd, David Bowie and more recently Radiohead, Coldplay, Kylie and Robbie Williams.

 

But just six months after Terra Firma, a private equity group, acquired the label for £3.2bn, the signs are not good: Radiohead have quit, describing the new regime as like "a confused bull in a china shop" and this week Williams has gone on strike, refusing to deliver his new album. Kylie and Coldplay are said to be considering their options and Tony Wadsworth, the man in charge of the UK arm, has been ousted after 25 years. Now it is understood that 1,000 EMI staff are to lose their jobs.

 

A look at 2007's biggest-selling albums puts EMI's woes in stark terms. The top 100 features a mere six from the label - and three are compilations of old material by Cliff Richard, Phil Collins and the Spice Girls. EMI's highest-placed album is only the 26th biggest seller of the year - Lily Allen's Alright, Still, which came out in 2006. Overall, 2007 saw EMI's share of the albums market fall 2.5 percentage points to 15.4%.

 

Williams's strike is more bad news. While Rudebox, released last Christmas, performed relatively poorly, his new album is being recorded with Guy Chambers, who co-wrote his biggest hits, and Mark Ronson, who produced much of Amy Winehouse's Back to Black, which was 2007's best-selling album.

 

Tim Clark, of IE Management, which represents Williams, said the singer would not release another EMI record until the management's plans became clearer. "We're led to believe there is going to be a new and wholesale cutback in staff. Tony Wadsworth has left, we understand other long-serving employees will be leaving too. We won't deliver an album to a company where we don't know what their structure will be or how they will handle things."

 

Next week Terra Firma is to say how it intends to turn EMI into a lean, mean music machine. Its plans focus on "efficiencies" - those job cuts. A source close to the private equity group said: "Workers need to spend more time servicing their artists and less time going to whizzy parties and travelling the world."

 

Terra Firma is run by Guy Hands, 48, a one-time bond trader who is not exactly rock and roll. William Hague was best man at his wedding.

 

Over his career he has acquired businesses ranging from pub companies to railway rolling stock leasing. He bought thousands of Ministry of Defence homes and controls the Odeon and UCI cinema chains. Since buying EMI - which he intends to turn around and sell for far more than he paid within about five years - he has called in several other traditional business executives with no music experience to help with the task. Post Office chairman Allan Leighton has become an adviser, as has former BBC director-general Lord Birt and former BAA airports boss Mike Clasper.

 

The bands and their management are far from impressed. As Radiohead's manager, Bryce Edge, said: "When you're dealing with creative talent, there's a lot of risk-taking that goes on. That's where Terra Firma is going to struggle."

 

Hands has uncovered all sorts of costs he has never seen before, from multi-million-pound "hand out and hope" advances to artists to a £20,000-a-month bill for candles. He is said to have been astonished by EMI's £200,000-a-year spend to keep its Hammersmith head office in flowers and fruit. Seasoned industry executives, however, know that "fruit and flowers" is shorthand for artists' partying requirements.

 

But this isn't just a flabby, badly run business which Hands will easily be able to lick into shape. The entire industry has been battered first by piracy and now by legitimate downloads which, while growing fast, are not offsetting the fall in CD sales. The big moneyspinner is now touring, which labels generally do not get a slice of - although EMI is said to want in on the act.

 

At the same time, the artists are becoming more powerful. The internet has given them more control. Clark said: "There really are other people, very good people, that can do the finances, do the press, market, promote and so on - and do it hugely competitively."

 

Artists also want to control their back catalogue and if they are unhappy can walk out - as Radiohead have done. As singer Thom Yorke explained on the band's website: "What we wanted was some control over our work and how it was used in the future by them - that seemed reasonable to us, as we cared about it a great deal. Mr Hands was not interested. So neither were we."

 

One EMI executive said Hands is still convinced that he can turn EMI around, but needs to get rid of entrenched interests, like Wadsworth. And not everyone thinks he will fail, or that the end of the major label is nigh. EMI's Lily Allen has attacked Radiohead, which allowed fans to pay what they liked for a download of their latest album, for "devaluing music" and Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant said he had no interest in marketing and distribution: "I just don't want to be in that business. I'd rather complain to EMI if it goes wrong."

 

Peter Ruppert, who runs music consultancy Entertainment Media Research, said Hands could turn EMI around by treating it like an independent label but sticking to strict business rules: "In the past it was about who had the biggest chequebook but it's really about who works the smartest at it and who can make the music business work & work for the artist.

The Guardian UK...

 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/showbiz/2008/01/12...89520-20282656/

 

 

Robbie Williams' new row

By Fiona Cummins and Danielle Lawler 12/01/2008

 

Furious insiders at music giant EMI have slammed Robbie Williams for going on strike against his own label.

 

Robbie who signed an £80million deal in 2002 has vowed to withhold his next album in protest over thousands of predicted job cuts.

 

But yesterday sources at the firm insisted EMI wouldn't be "blackmailed" by the singer.

 

His "walkout" follows the takeover of EMI by private equity firm Terra Firma for £3.2billion. Its boss Guy Hands plans a shake-up.

 

Yesterday Robbie's manager Tim Clark angrily dubbed Hands a "plantation owner" who had made a "vanity purchase".

 

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His words brought a furious response with one highly placed source telling the Mirror: "It's exactly like football.

 

"A new manager comes in and the agent tells him 'My centre forward isn't going to score unless he gets a pay-rise.'

 

The executive added: "Tim Clark always uses the media to negotiate. He put a gun to EMI's head with that £80million deal in 2002.

 

"He announced it before the deal had been formally done.

 

"Emi were put in an impossible position. It was either that - or lose a high-profile British artist. So they had to pay what everyone knew was a ridiculous amount.

 

"Robbie then fell out with his song-writing partner Guy Chambers and never did his big tour of the US. And he has only delivered two studio albums since, which is a pretty poor work rate. It's rich of Tim Clark to use a phrase like plantation owner to describe Mr Hands as he's a multi-millionaire Kenyan expat himself."

 

"Mr Hands want to get a business on its feet. He feels very strongly that acts should be measured on their own merits.

 

"There's plenty of EMI acts who are still very jealous and unhappy about Robbie getting that deal because it meant less for them.

 

"Stratospheric amounts have been paid to managers and lawyers too. It's time for a change."

 

Robbie, 33, also thought to be demanding control of his back catalogue, has said he wants to release music through his website.

 

But sources pointed out that his strike could last "a ridiculously long time" as he is contracted to produce another studio album and Greatest Hits album by 2012.

 

One added: "If he were to release an album straight to the internet, he would be in breach of contract."

 

The former Take That member has already sold 70million albums for the label since joining in 2002.

 

The row comes as it emerged all EMI artist managers have been ordered to meet Hands next week - and bring along their stars. Many big names are expected to snub it.

 

One worried insider said: "Everyone is dreading it. The mood round the office has been so sombre. We are all fear for our jobs."

 

HIS LAST EFFORT

 

Mirror critic Gavin Martin described the album as: ""The car crash that is Robbie"s Rudebox"." The Guardian weighed in: "A scant handful of highlights aside, it is packed with half-baked ideas, bad jokes, music that any other star of Williams" stature would be terrified of the public hearing". Q said: "On this showing he's bored and directionless," while Observer Music Monthly called it "an absolute howler".

 

 

 

:arrr: :arrr: :arrr: :arrr: :arrr: :arrr: :arrr:

 

I read all about this yesterday!

I'll have to come back later tho to read this

whole thread....no time right now!

This is just a fly by! :)

Tim Clark via Music Week has denied that Robbie is on strike - Tim Clark says he didn't say words to that affect to The Times.

Here is the article..with thanks to Purerobbie and Robstar at TRWS

 

Williams manager: Robbie's not on strike

Friday January 11, 2008

Music Week

By Ben Cardew

 

 

 

Robbie Williams’ manager has told Music Week that the singer is not on strike, although he confirmed that the artist will not deliver an album for EMI while the label is in its current state of upheaval.

 

The Times reported this morning that the singer is on strike in protest at Terra Firma’s treatment of EMI, which it bought last year, quoting Williams’ manager Tim Clark.

 

However, Clark denies that the singer is on strike. “On strike? I didn’t actually use those terms,” he tells Music Week. “What we actually said was it would be unrealistic to expect an artist – any artist to deliver an album while we have no idea where EMI are going,” he says.

 

Clark explains that he is unhappy with the way that the major labels – including EMI – have dealt with the problems and threats posed by the internet. “It needs a concerted effort and frankly the whole taking a big stick to our consumers is not going to work. We need to provide a carrot,” he says. “Until the industry starts to work together we don’t have a prayer.”

 

Clark also explains that he did not compare EMI owner Guy Hands to a “plantation owner”, as widely reported. “That wasn’t aimed at Guy Hands,” he says. “It was the major record companies, because their ownership of the copyrights treats their artists like old-fashioned plantation owners.”

 

“Guy Hands hasn’t had the time to do it yet,” he adds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

FFS. Which reviews should be more respected? Tabloids who don't even listen to the album, or proper Music Companies.

typical bloody Mirror, doing their absolute best to make this all as negetive towards Rob as only they can. They have deliberatly gotton quotes ****ging Rob off, and even getting loads of facts completelly wrong, such as saying Rob has only released 2 studio albums since the deal. Then at the end, to print reviews for Rudebox, with all four reviews being very negetive. It is absolutelly ridiculous that they are allowed to be so completelly one-sidded with Rob. They are the absolutele worst paper of any kind there is by a mile. So unprofessional, even when it is'nt the 3am *****es writing the articles. Why don't they give their readers a balanced views, and post up some of the endless great reviews Rudebox got from top music critics who actually know what they are bloody talking about, as opose to those tabloids fools who probebly don't even listen to it. Where are the reviews from NME, Mojo, Uncut, Rolling Stone, Music Week, The Times, The Telegraph to name a few.

 

I would'nt be at all suprised if they completelly made up those quuotes, because anyone who is a close source for EMI would not get their facts so completelly wrong as to say he has only released 2 studio albums, when he has actually released three, and then say he has a poor work rate, when he is about the only major solo act in the world who releases an album every bloody year. Since the deal was signed, 07 was the only year he did'nt release anything. EMI are a bunch of ignorant morons, but I refuse to believe they are quite that stuid, so I would not put it past the Mirror to invent quotes to suit their negetive slants when it comes to Rob.

 

Interesting that It does say though that he does'nt have to have the new album and Greatest Hits released till 2012 though. How true that is I don't know, but a ten year deal seems right for so much money as £80m.

 

Will be interesting to see if Rob shows up on Tuesday. It would look very bad if he did'nt tbh :lol:

 

http://ukpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hj...ABQ0E9GsMaYiK-Q

 

2,000 jobs could go at music label

Music group EMI could axe up to 2,000 jobs this week under cost-cutting plans from its new private equity owner, it has been reported.

 

Terra Firma, which bought EMI for £3.2 billion last summer, will unveil the cuts - one in three of the firm's workforce - in plans to revive the business on Tuesday, according to the Sunday Telegraph.

 

The job losses at EMI, whose artists include Coldplay, Radiohead, Robbie Williams and Joss Stone, are set to fall mainly in the company's recorded music division.

 

EMI has been struggling with falling CD sales across the industry due to the rise of digital downloading and piracy. The company made pre-tax losses of £263.6 million last year.

 

Terra Firma's owner, financier Guy Hands, will reveal the plans at meeting at the Odeon cinema in Kensington. Staff as well as artists and their representatives have been invited.

 

Mr Hands is reportedly looking to cut costs by centralising back office functions for all of EMI's 40 record labels. Jobs in marketing, sales, distribution and artist management among the group's overall 5,500 staff are likely to go.

 

He is also looking to prune marketing spend from 20% of projected sales to around 12%, with the overall aim of boosting profits by £100 million this summer, the newspaper says.

 

But plans to cut costs across the business have angered many of the group's artists, who have gone public with their complaints.

 

Artists such as Robbie Williams are understood to have threatened to withhold new records and demanded assurances over marketing and distribution.

 

Williams' manager, Tim Clark, has described Mr Hands as a "plantation owner" after he called on artists to work harder, while Coldplay are also understood to be reviewing their options, the Sunday Times also reports.

 

 

*** EMI has a marketing department? Good Lord! :o :o :o :o :o :blink: :blink: :blink: ***

 

You know what ?!

 

It doesn't matter what Tim actually said or didn't say. He should not have said anything at all.

 

Rob said in his blog the album is delayed for whatever reason he gave, that should have been it publically and let them wrangle this out with EMI privately as it should be.

 

All Tim did by making it public is put even more pressure on Rob and the album once it is actually released. The expectations for the album would have been VERY high regardless but with this whole public battle and he said / they said c**p, by making such a big stink about the album, the expectations will be off the charts and only give the press more ammunition to rip into Rob even more than they ever had with Rudebox or in general.

 

Honestly I don't get it. While I understand them re-evaluating everything since the new owners took over, I don't get why make a big stink about it. Rob only has one album left. It really doesn't matter how much promo or marketing EMI does with this album. What will determine whether it is a success or not will be the material itself and whether Rob does major personal promo or not. No amount of adverts or promos EMI do will help if Rob doesn't personally promo the hell out of it. He could have released the album, do major promo for it and be done with EMI. That is if he does actually want to leave when the contract is up or if this big stink is really about the future of another contract with EMI.

 

 

EMI outlines restructuring plans

Financial Times

 

 

The new owner of EMI has confirmed plans for an overhaul of the record label‘s operations as it seeks to save £200m a year and cut up to 2,000 jobs.

 

Terra Firma, the private equity group owned by Guy Hands, also said on Tuesday it plans to invest heavily in artist and repertoire (A&R) activities to develop new talent and maximise revenue from its existing roster of artists which include Robbie Williams and Kylie Minogue.

 

“We have spent a long time looking intensely at EMI and the problems faced by its recorded music division which, like the rest of the music industry, has been struggling to respond to the challenges posed by a digital environment.”

 

The EMI statement was released as Mr Hands prepared to presents his plans for the label to staff and artists at a cinema in west London.

 

Mr Hands has faced criticism from some of the company’s leading artists, including Robbie Williams, who say that he fails to understand the complexities of the music industry.

 

But Mr Hands has rejected these comments, saying the challenges at EMI were no different from those he had faced in pub, train and aircraft leasing businesses.

 

He accused the music industry of excessive bureaucracy and losing sight of its real function in an interview with the Financial Times earlier this week but said the company was in good shape financially.

 

“From a financial point of view, EMI is in an extremely strong position, and frankly is in the strongest position it has been for a long time,” Mr Hands said.

 

EMI’s network of labels had 19 managers, marketing executives and lawyers for every talent scout, he explained.

 

But on Tuesday he outlined plans to streamline the sprawling management structure.

 

“We believe we have devised a new revolutionary structure for the group that will improve every area of the business,” he said. “In short it (the restructuring) will make EMI’s music more valuable for the company and its artists alike.”

 

He focused on four key areas where he said the changes would make a difference, including repositioning EMI’s numerous labels, developing a new partnership with artists, and opening new income streams such as enhanced digital services and corporate sponsorship arrangements.

 

Mr Hands also plans to bring together all the group’s key support activities including sales, marketing, manufacturing and distribution into a single division with a unified leadership to eliminate duplications within the group.

 

The Verve are joining Rob and Coldplay now.

 

THE VERVE 'THREATEN TO WITHHOLD THEIR ALBUM' FROM EMI

Uncut.co.uk

 

http://www.uncut.co.uk/media/images/vervechalkley021007_W.jpg

 

The Verve are threatening to withhold their upcoming fourth album from EMI, until they have received evidence from the label that it can be marketed appropriately.

 

Radiohead and Paul McCartney are no longer with EMI, having distributed their last albums through XL and Hear Music, respectively.

 

The Verve's manager, Jazz Summers, explained the decision, telling The Telegraph: “Why would we deliver a record when EMI is cutting back on the marketing and is in financial difficulty? I am going to tell [EMI boss] Guy Hands I want assurances.”

 

The Verve's move mirrors that of Robbie Williams, whose manager also said that the star would be withholding a new album until he believes it can be successfully financed.

 

Summers, who also manages Snow Patrol, will head a group of managers meeting with Hands this afternoon (January 15).

 

EMI is likely to attempt to boost its profits by allowing private companies and brands to sponsor its artists music, according to Marketing Week.

 

EMI is likely to attempt to boost its profits by allowing private companies and brands to sponsor its artists music, according to Marketing Week.

 

 

Hmmm. I wonder who would be willing to sponsor Robbie?

 

Silk Cut? Durex? Boots the Chemist? Remmington Shavers? :lol:

 

http://idolator.com/345019/more-emi-plans-...sored-by-prozac

 

 

More EMI plans: Could Coldplay's next Album be Sponsored by Prozac?

 

 

If Guy Hands has his way, maybe! (Although I'd think that Vivarin would be a more appropriate sponsor, since it can counteract the band's soporific effects on people.) The man charged with leading EMI on the path toward profitability (or at least not hemorrhaging money) told the Financial Times that he's going to look into alternate means of making money for artists, and that those means could result in bands being presented to their adoring public by your favorite consumer products--or, at the very least, some deep-pocketed pharmaceutical company.

 

"Football teams have very distinct corporate sponsorship," Hands told the FT. "Why shouldn't some of the leading bands have the same sort of relationships?"

 

Ah, yes. Clearly, Hands has never had a late-night pub conversation about the idea of the "sellout," and its various permutations within the rebellious-at-all-costs world of music. (Or maybe he's only seen music videos with lots of product placement in them.) Anyone else feel like this is the sort of cheeky announcement that makes me wonder if Hands wants "striking" artists like Robbie Williams and The Verve to finally have a huge tantrum and run away screaming from their contracts? A sorta sneaky way of engaging in some money-saving brush-clearing, if you will.

 

:blink:

 

 

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

I thought that article was very funny as well............... :P :P :P :P :P :P

Here is an interview today with this Guy Hands (he certainly does not look like a billionaire :lol: ) from the BBC.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/p...bwm=1&asb=1

 

Interesting stuff. He says he is going to take the artists who are profitable and give them every bit of tender loving care and give them time to make their music as successful and powerfull as possible. He also says they will work with consumer groups to find other ways of working with the consumer.

That Tommy Mattola is as evil as they come and I don't think Rob is too keen to work with him anyways after meeting him.

Tommy Mottola isn't and has not been a part of Sony for quite some time. He was head of a US-based mini-label called Casablanca (Lindsay Lohan...) and he was sacked because he promised to make Lindsay a success. Needless to say that didn't happen.

 

Poor Tommy etc, etc.

http://idolator.com/345019/more-emi-plans-...sored-by-prozac

More EMI plans: Could Coldplay's next Album be Sponsored by Prozac?

If Guy Hands has his way, maybe! (Although I'd think that Vivarin would be a more appropriate sponsor, since it can counteract the band's soporific effects on people.) The man charged with leading EMI on the path toward profitability (or at least not hemorrhaging money) told the Financial Times that he's going to look into alternate means of making money for artists, and that those means could result in bands being presented to their adoring public by your favorite consumer products--or, at the very least, some deep-pocketed pharmaceutical company.

 

"Football teams have very distinct corporate sponsorship," Hands told the FT. "Why shouldn't some of the leading bands have the same sort of relationships?"

 

Ah, yes. Clearly, Hands has never had a late-night pub conversation about the idea of the "sellout," and its various permutations within the rebellious-at-all-costs world of music. (Or maybe he's only seen music videos with lots of product placement in them.) Anyone else feel like this is the sort of cheeky announcement that makes me wonder if Hands wants "striking" artists like Robbie Williams and The Verve to finally have a huge tantrum and run away screaming from their contracts? A sorta sneaky way of engaging in some money-saving brush-clearing, if you will.

 

:blink:

 

Oh my god :lol: :lol: :lol: Thats hilarious

 

Mmmm I'm gonna say to my boss....I'm not on strike just ain't gonna work today :mellow:

 

Doesn't really matter if he's on a strike or not, Rob and his management need to make a point towards the record company and have to be sure a new album will be promoted like it's supposed to be.

 

He puts his heart in his music so he deserves the best promotion possible. So what Rudebox wasn't as succesfull as the other albums. He tried something new and different and I'm proud of him doing it. Like already said before in here, if the album had been promoted more it could have turned out differently.

 

I do hope his next album will be huge again though, seems to me they only play his "old" songs on the radio over here and it's like IC and Rudebox don't even excist :(

 

He can take his time to think about what the best strategy will be. Nobody expects him to go on tour again any time soon. The fans will wait patiently.

Recording industry should brace for more bad news

Artists don't need record labels anymore.

Mashboxx founder Wayne Rosso says more changes are ahead because of shifts in technology and economics.

By Wayne Rosso

 

Published: January 16, 2008, 1:49 PM PST

perspective The recording industry is facing yet more bad news.

 

Forget about Warner Music Group's plummeting stock price, or the shrinking retail floor space. Forget about EMI's announcement this week that it's cutting 1,500 to 2,000 jobs. At least the new owners of EMI are recognizing that they bought into a dead industry and are trying to confront it head-on with significant changes in business strategy. It remains to be seen if the suits who now own EMI can navigate the shark-infested waters of a business that feeds on schadenfreude.

 

The big problem that EMI, and by extension the rest of the industry, faces is the sudden stampede of brand-name artists away from the traditional recording companies. The Eagles are with Wal-Mart, Madonna left Warner for Live Nation, a concert promotion company. EMI has lost Paul McCartney and Radiohead, and Coldplay is said to be threatening to leave. Last week, the label's biggest seller, Robbie Williams, announced that he too would be leaving the label. All pretty devastating.

 

Record companies have always depended on the revenue and cash flow generated from platinum-selling artists to finance new talent. If that revenue stream disappears, how can they compete?

 

The case of Robbie Williams is very interesting and will probably be studied in business schools for years to come. Williams' managers, Tim Clark and David Enthoven of IE Music, are two of the most savvy, straight-shooting entrepreneurs in the business. They worked diligently to build Williams into a global superstar and then broke industry tradition by virtually creating a new music industry model, the 360 deal. They formed a joint venture between Robbie and EMI. For 80 million pounds ($157 million), EMI got a minority stake in the venture, which included all of the revenue that Williams generates--concerts, record sales, merchandising, sponsorships.

 

At the time, EMI was assailed for being a sucker, but the reality is that it made a great deal and it has more than paid off. This model has since been duplicated by Linkin Park, Madonna, and several other artists. It has become the rage du jour in record label business affairs departments and hailed as the model that will save the business.

 

But what Clark and Enthoven realize is that the point in time has come where major artists can do it themselves. First you had the Radiohead experiment. The band has been criticized by industry and media types for botching it and leaving a lot of money on the table. The important issue is that Radiohead made a bold first step, no matter how successful it was. Now artists like Williams can take full control of their assets, and enlightened managers like Clark and Enthoven can implement groundbreaking models that heretofore have been stymied by old-school thinking.

 

If you're a big enough star, you just don't need a record label anymore. In fact, even if you're an unknown, Clark and Enthoven have shown that you don't need a major record company behind you to be successful. Backed with money from London-based venture firm Ingenious, they just made a deal for a new singer named Sia with Starbucks. The Sia record will enter the charts in the Top 40 in its first week of release.

 

I don't know if Williams will sign with another record label or not. I really doubt it. The bottom line is that music has lost its economic value to consumers. But it still has emotional value. People will never stop listening to music. They've just stopped paying for it. So the challenge comes in figuring out how to capitalize on that emotional value. There are lots of ways to do that and guys like Williams, Clark, and Enthoven are sure to find them and transform the landscape.

 

TRWS