EMI chief David Munns has been speaking to the LA Times about the much hyped Robbie Williams deal, saying much of what was reported was “rubbish”. “After the Mariah Carey deal, we made it clear that we are not going to do crazy record deals that have a huge risk in them. I assure you that this is not a deal in that category. We'll make money on it with no sweat".
In fact it seems that Williams has increased the size of his latest contract by giving up rights to a number of things normally controlled by an artist's management or publisher. In return for an increased advance EMI will have a cut of touring, merchandise and publishing revenues. This is a real sign that record labels have realised that however many anti-piracy suits they pursue they will inevitably make less money on recordings in the future. To survive the record labels need to get involved in other areas of an artist’s work, income streams normally monopolised by artist management companies.
In another interview EMI Chairman Alain Levy confirmed this is the direction in which EMI is heading. "Our goal is to transform EMI from a recording company into a music company that shares in all kinds of revenue generated by the artist. It's less volatile than record sales alone.” While Williams has done well out of this general development in the music industry some artists fear it will make record labels even more control freakish in the management of their careers.