MARIAH DEAL GLITTERS
MARIAH DEAL GLITTERS By DAN COX May 9, 2002 -- Pop diva Mariah Carey is putting herself in the hands of the pros with a brand new music deal that she hopes will rebuild her all-but-moribund career. Yesterday, the singer who battled to leave EMI Virgin Music and recently had what amounted to a nervous breakdown, signed an overall deal with Universal Music Group and Island Def Jam for three albums and a full-scale record label. Sources told The Post that the "venture deal" will bring Carey some $20 million for three albums. In the first year, she´s likely to take home between $5 million and $8 million. "The main thing here is just having this opportunity to have my own company and have it within this company," Carey told The Post. "They have their own labels and have this massive success. It´s been a great place for entrepreneurs." The deal will be Carey´s attempt to recreate her career, using major industry names such as Universal Music Chairman Doug Morris, Island Def Jam President Lyor Cohen, Universal Music International´s Jorgen Larsen and Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine to guide her. The deal will also link Carey with Vivendi Universal, which owns the world´s largest music company. For Vivendi, it might be a welcome sign of good news after a month of near riots in France and plummeting stock prices in the U.S. Vivendi stock closed up for the first time in more than a week at $29.07, or $1.50 jump, though the jump likely was not attributable to Carey´s deal. Universal and Island Def Jam beat out Clive Davis´ J Records and Sylvia Rhone´s Elektra Records to snag Carey. Insiders said Davis´ deal with her broke down because she was demanding a "key-man" clause with Davis, meaning that if Davis left the company, she was no longer on the hook for any albums or songs. Sources said J Records could never allow such a clause. More important to Carey will be the artistic and individual freedom she´ll get from Universal and Def Jam with her own label. She´ll work with Morris, Cohen and Iovine to coordinate work with Vivendi Universal print, TV, film and online marketing brands. "We´ve made a deal where she´s happy and we´re happy," Morris said. "We´re bringing together a woman who is looked at as one of the greatest singers and one of the greatest songwriters of the age and putting it together with the hottest record company in market share." Carey is also bringing in her former Sony Music pal Jerry Blair, who was instrumental in producing the star´s 15 No. 1 singles. Blair will run her company and small New York-based staff. "It will be an awesome opportunity to work with the largest, most important and best-selling artist in the world on the world´s No. 1 music company," Blair said. "We´re going to build a media company. The possibilities are endless." Though the money is nothing compared to the $120 million deal she initially had with EMI Virgin, Carey is looking to rebuild her career to superstar level again. When she left Virgin, she walked away with $28 million after having already been paid $21 million for never releasing an album. Her last album, the soundtrack from the ill-fated film "Glitter," was a bomb. Source: NY Post http://www.nypost.com/business/47574.htm
MARIAH DEAL GLITTERS By DAN COX May 9, 2002 -- Pop diva Mariah Carey is putting herself in the hands of the pros with a brand new music deal that she hopes will rebuild her all-but-moribund career. Yesterday, the singer who battled to leave EMI Virgin Music and recently had what amounted to a nervous breakdown, signed an overall deal with Universal Music Group and Island Def Jam for three albums and a full-scale record label. Sources told The Post that the "venture deal" will bring Carey some $20 million for three albums. In the first year, she´s likely to take home between $5 million and $8 million. "The main thing here is just having this opportunity to have my own company and have it within this company," Carey told The Post. "They have their own labels and have this massive success. It´s been a great place for entrepreneurs." The deal will be Carey´s attempt to recreate her career, using major industry names such as Universal Music Chairman Doug Morris, Island Def Jam President Lyor Cohen, Universal Music International´s Jorgen Larsen and Interscope Geffen A&M Chairman Jimmy Iovine to guide her. The deal will also link Carey with Vivendi Universal, which owns the world´s largest music company. For Vivendi, it might be a welcome sign of good news after a month of near riots in France and plummeting stock prices in the U.S. Vivendi stock closed up for the first time in more than a week at $29.07, or $1.50 jump, though the jump likely was not attributable to Carey´s deal. Universal and Island Def Jam beat out Clive Davis´ J Records and Sylvia Rhone´s Elektra Records to snag Carey. Insiders said Davis´ deal with her broke down because she was demanding a "key-man" clause with Davis, meaning that if Davis left the company, she was no longer on the hook for any albums or songs. Sources said J Records could never allow such a clause. More important to Carey will be the artistic and individual freedom she´ll get from Universal and Def Jam with her own label. She´ll work with Morris, Cohen and Iovine to coordinate work with Vivendi Universal print, TV, film and online marketing brands. "We´ve made a deal where she´s happy and we´re happy," Morris said. "We´re bringing together a woman who is looked at as one of the greatest singers and one of the greatest songwriters of the age and putting it together with the hottest record company in market share." Carey is also bringing in her former Sony Music pal Jerry Blair, who was instrumental in producing the star´s 15 No. 1 singles. Blair will run her company and small New York-based staff. "It will be an awesome opportunity to work with the largest, most important and best-selling artist in the world on the world´s No. 1 music company," Blair said. "We´re going to build a media company. The possibilities are endless." Though the money is nothing compared to the $120 million deal she initially had with EMI Virgin, Carey is looking to rebuild her career to superstar level again. When she left Virgin, she walked away with $28 million after having already been paid $21 million for never releasing an album. Her last album, the soundtrack from the ill-fated film "Glitter," was a bomb. Source: NY Post http://www.nypost.com/business/47574.htm