EMI Records don't seem to understand their roster--and how they can fix it

They only want to understand major artists and money




By Mark Grove


Yes, I know from the title of my article it seems like I’m whining. On one hand you have managers from bands like Cold Play who are whining to EMI, and threatening not to record their next album because of the problems within EMI. As well, it’s probably only top selling artists that are being promoted.



Mind you it doesn’t make sense to promote bands with 100 thousand dollar ad campaigns or bands who sell only 10 to 20 thousand copies. But I find many artists are hand cuffed to the whims of major labels who fund these bands.




There are approximately 13,000 thousand artists on EMI and its various labels, and they are going to have to cut a number of them so they can concentrate on the top acts, and the ones who are willing to work within the structure and narrowness of a major label.




It makes me laugh though when managers of artists like Cold Play threaten labels, when its not in their best interest to do so. Where money is being made is not the top selling artists themselves, but recorded music sales—and what EMI makes as a percentage of music publishing from bands who are actively selling CD’s or back catalog material.




Online sales have never panned out nearly as much as they have hoped for. Customers are more interested in downloads of albums for pennies on the dollar. Because of EMI’s inability to work with what I call their “indie” artists on their smaller labels, they are being ignored and becoming a drain on the EMI financial structure.




If major labels wouldn’t waste money promoting indie artists just to try and pad their pockets, and enter into more solid deals with indie labels who understand their artists and the indie market, they could concentrate on their major artists and still have their hands in the indie game.





Lets face it EMI is not letting people who understand the market at the indie level do what they need to. EMI has had to resort to ways of making money that waste their resources and don’t focus on their core business from major artists.





They’re basically dipping into the indie pool and don’t know what the hell to do.




13,000 artists on the EMI roster, the number sounds staggering. But how many artists are being ignored because they’re selling only 10 to 20 thousand albums. In indie economics that’s a win fall. EMI will have to make more prudent joint venture deals in the future with indie labels—that go 50-50. The type of deals where an indie is financed 100 percent by a major have also got to stop.




That way majors have total control of any and all deals, and recouping of costs. This includes music publishing, and possibly even tour revenue. I realize that EMI is in this to make piles of money, but 13,000 artists on a label does not constitute being an intelligent music business, especially when a third or more artists are unproductive. Then it just becomes a bloated money wasting vacuum that literally sucks up the equity of the whole label.




A question you might ask if you work for EMI, or you are a business associate of their artists; Who are the stakeholders in EMI. If you said the employees or their artists, you would be wrong. The employees and their artists aren’t the ones plopping down their hard earned money to promote themselves. The stakeholders in this EMI game are the Shareholders, and they should be crying bloody murder.





If EMI wants to keep even half of their artists, they should not just be slashing and burning artists and their smaller labels. Like I said earlier they should concentrate on their major artists and work with indie labels more equally. As well, they could even work on a band by band basis with indie’s, instead of authoritarian deals where majors control the deals.





I personally think Majors waste their time on the internet, and don’t hire people who can exploit the internet that benefits more than just the higher selling artists. EMI could also hire indie label owners, and independent music journalists who understand the music biz, instead of hiring marketers and executives who just make boatloads of money, and don’t do anything to bring the right people to the table, or show any creativity or innovation.




Another way of cutting without too much hurt would be to cut out the number of small labels that aren’t working with EMI for the betterment of the whole label. The situation at EMI isn’t as grim as it appears to music journalists. In the future major artists and their Mangers must work out fairer deals—or else major labels will base their percentage or points, like I said before, on producing, touring, advertising and promotion costs.


This includes a lions share of lucrative residual publishing deals.


This is why its imperative that indie artists and labels understand major label culture, how they work and who really controls these deals. The situation at EMI, if they know what they’re doing will get through this rough patch. Some artists even though they may sell well, may see themselves without a label.




Lets see how EMI gets through this, then make a call on this.




Mark Grove CGP www.canadianguitarplayer.com