From Times OnlineJuly 25, 2008
Rolling Stones leave EMI for Universal
Dan Sabbagh
Sir Mick Jagger is expected to lead The Rolling Stones away from Guy Hands’ EMI later today, ending a long association with the British record company.
The band is expected to sign up with Universal Music, and the deal is all the more valuable because the Stones will control all their releases since the 1970s, including Sticky Fingers, Exile on Main Street and Black and Blue.
Sir Mick’s decision — on the eve of his 65th birthday — follows a bidding war between all the big record labels, and is a blow to Mr Hands who failed personally to persuade him to stay.
Mr Hands acquired EMI last year for £2.1 billion through Terra Firma, the UK private equity house.
Universal has been in pole position to take on the Stones since the beginning of the year, when the music group released Shine a Light, the soundtrack to a 2006 live performance filmed in New York by Martin Scorsese.
However, Sir Mick wanted to court rivals in pursuit of a higher price.
The Vivendi-owned music group also controls the Stones’ 1960s output in the UK, released through the Decca label, and the deal will unify the band’s total recorded collection. In the US, that catalogue is controlled by ABKCO Music.
EMI has suffered several prominent artist defections, including the departure of Radiohead last year, just as Mr Hands took over the company.
Damon Albarn, the key man behind Blur and Gorillaz, is taking his Chinese opera, Monkey and the West, away from the label, which has been interpreted as a sign of his dissatisfaction with it.
Universal Music signs Rolling Stones deal
LONDON (Reuters) - Vivendi's Universal Music has signed an exclusive, long-term worldwide recording agreement with The Rolling Stones, in a deal that will be a blow to the band's previous record company EMI.
EMI was taken over by private equity company Terra Firma in 2007 and has since struggled to keep hold of some of its biggest acts. It will also be a blow to concert promoter Live Nation who had also tried to sign the group, according to media reports.
Universal, the world's biggest music company, said the new deal covered future albums by the Rolling Stones and their catalogue including such albums as "Sticky Fingers" and "Black and Blue" and songs "Brown Sugar" and "Angie".
The British group is a hugely successful touring act, estimated to have sold more than 200 million albums worldwide.
"Universal are forward thinking, creative and hands-on music people," the band said in a statement. "We really look forward to working with them."
In March, Universal Music released the soundtrack album from "Shine A Light," director Martin Scorsese's film of the Rolling Stones' 2006 performance at the Beacon Theatre in New York.
It will now release all new recordings by the group through its Polydor label and handle full digital and physical rights as part of the agreement.
"Universal Music Group will begin planning an unprecedented, long-term campaign to reposition the Rolling Stones' entire catalogue for the digital age," the company said.
EMI, which had been home to the veteran rock band for many years, had recently talked about trying to squeeze new revenue from its catalogue of artists.
(Reporting by Kate Holton; Editing by Richard Hubbard and Erica Billingham)