EMI have confirmed they have successfully secured the international publishing rights to Eminem's new album 'Encore', which topped the UK charts this weekend, and is due to top the US chart later today having shifted an estimated 700K copies in less than a week.
Slim Shady, whose recording contract is with Universal's Interscope, tends to sign a different publishing deal with each album he releases. However, this is the second deal with EMI - they secured the publishing rights for the official soundtrack to Eminem's movie '8 Mile'. That has started speculation that the EMI are hoping the new $7.5 million deal will be the start of an ongoing relationship with the rapper. Commenting on the deal, EMI Music's Martin Bandier yesterday told the New York Post: "It's a huge deal, because he's clearly the biggest rock 'n' roll star in the business. He may be a rapper, but he's a rock 'n' roll star".
Elsewhere in EMI news, and the London based major label has reported a profit for the first half of its current financial year of £30 million. Although this is down from £39.4 million in the same period last year, the discrepancy can be explained through the timing of key releases. Analysts still reckon full year profits will go up from last year's £163.3 million to an estimated £168 million.