Talking of EMI, while those nice people at Parlophone put those Queen CDs in a jiffy bag, news that independent Wall of Sound have ended their six year licensing agreement with the major. The end of the deal means EMI will no longer be automatically involved in distributing the likes of Royksopp, The Bees, Propellerheads and Blak Twang. That said, some artist specific relationships will continue, and EMI say they will be working on future Royksopp releases in particular.
Confirming the parting of company, EMI's Vincent Clery-Merlin told reporters: "Wall of Sound is one of Europe's best independent record labels and we are sad to be having to end our license agreement with them. We wish them every success in the future and we look forward to continuing to work with them on Royksopp over the coming years."
Wall of Sound MD Mark Jones says, "Labels/EMI have been supportive partners for Wall of Sound for the last six years. Now it's time for us to move on and re-model our international set-up."
Oh, and while we are on Wall of Sound, download the CMU Weekly from http://www.cmuonline.co.uk later today to get the full lowdown on Mark Jones' excellent Two Culture Clash project.