Poor Mariah. Poor EMI.

[Paul L.]

Is it okay to be humiliated if you get $28 million in the process?

Always sad to see the management of big companies ruin said companies.

http://dailynews.yahoo.com/htx/nm/20020123/en/music-carey_2.html

[Gary]

An interesting comment from the article: "EMI has been forced to overhaul its business in an industry facing sluggish growth as CD replacement sales fade and piracy bites."

To me, this helps explain some of the awful remasters that we are getting. They seem to be trying to desperately push out remastered discs as fast as they can. For 'replacemet' sales.

But could it be a shot in the arm for quality audiophile CDs? Or even a push for a high res format where there is an appreciatable difference?

I'd like to get dumped by EMI like that :( . Where do I line up? :p

[Claus]

Who needs Mariah... not my music!

[Mart]

I'd like to add Mariah if she actually still sang those dog whistle frequencies. However, since she suddenly discovered her ethnic half, I haven't seen anything that distinguished her apart from the mass market music unless you count her lack of volume.

[patricku]

Behind fame and money,there is a person....and she may be hurt.

[TommyTunes]

Behind fame and money,there is a person....and she may be hurt.

Please let me comfort her, please

[patricku]

Sorry,heu..this role is already..given away...next time,chap...

[Grant]

It's pretty sad. No one can predict how an album sales or movie is going to do.

On the other hand, this may spark a chang on how these contracts are done. If you get hired by a business you are expected to perform. If you don't you get booted. Maybe dropping her after one album and/or movie was hasty, but the idea is still there.

I also don't think she deserves all the ridicule and insults about her mental state, body, image...so she gained a little weight. I like a bit of meat on those bones. I don't like toothpicks.

And, didn't Rod Stewart also get dropped a few weeks ago?

[Paul L.]

EMI comes out stupid in this no matter how you look at it. They paid her $49 million so far, for her advance on Glitter and buying out her contract. Glitter sold 2 million copies worldwide, which didn't even cover the expenses of promoting it.

Man, was EMI stupid!

The new guy at EMI who decided to buy out her contract, I guess he's thinking it's better to lose $29 million than risk losing $80 million.

But who knows? Maybe Mariah will have a hit next time around. Wouldn't that be the funniest thing ever?

[Gary]

Originally posted by Paul L.


But who knows? Maybe Mariah will have a hit next time around. Wouldn't that be the funniest thing ever?

I would LOVE that! I'd be laughing for as long as her CD is in the charts.

Still would not buy her music, though.... :p

[Grant]

It reminds me of when AWB was signed to MCA in the early 70s. The put out a good soul album but the brass at the company told them to do country music because in 1973 it was the hottest thing around. Yeah! Right!:rolleyes: they wouldn't even promote it. Well, AWB asked to be released from their contract and got signed by Atlantic. Arif Mardin produced the debut album. You know the rest.

[Dave]

Speaking of AWB Grant,

Do you or anyone else know where I might be able to get a decent cd copy of AWBs debut album?

[Grant]

I don't know if it's in print on any format.

[Uncle Al]

A thought on Mariah:

I'm no fan of her music, but admit to her talent When she rids herself of "star making" producers and managemnt, and just follows her muse - who knows where she could go.............

If I were her, I would downscale, give up the MTV dreams, and record the music she loves. After all - she just received enough dough to guarantee her retirement. How many other Diva's faced the fading of their youth and bounced back on sheer talent? Linda Ronstadt, Cher, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin (ok, maybe she never really "lost it").

I really cannot name a SINGLE Mariah song that I would play again. If she wants to survive in the MUSIC biz, she must follow her heart. Imagine having such enorous talent that you could do whatever YOU wanted to do, but somehow felt you needed guidance (management, producers, record companies).

********. You've got the dough - do what you want. I never hear of Elvis Costello or Linda Ronstadt or Sting crying about the poor sales on the esoteric albums they release. And while they never reach that MTV mass appeal - I'm sure they all live more than comfortably. You got the cash - now fire the useless advisors and hangers on.

Just a comment from a non-fan that really loves music from Bizet to the Beastie Boys.

From someone that suspects that most musicians do as well.

[Douglas]

Pariahs like Mariah take up all the $ for promotion and distribution at her record co so that there is less $ available for investment in smaller bands/artists who might have talent.

[Sckott]

At college, I knew this girl that was about the size and shape of Aretha Franklin in the Blues Brother's movie. She could also sing up something fierce, loud, and MEAN it when I say, this little dynamo had PIPES! She was a "Half Sister" as she called herself, vaguely Portuguese, Black, Spanish mix. If not for that, she was short like Aretha too. She was one of the most genuine people I knew in college, and although we enjoyed chatting, we merely kept each other company at times when it got boring. The one thing we had respect for was music, and her love was 'modern slow jams'. My radio show on Fridays preceeded hers. Her musical tastes were wide, but she didn't have many CDs to listen to of the classics. She would borrow a few, and I was always happy to let her.

One day, she came up to the college production studio all cheezed off about her boyfriend not calling her. She thought he was avoiding her. She was beyond pissed, almost emotional.

I was there in my meger 20's trying to do something useful, as I was music director. I was wading through the record company garbage that came in every day from the mail room. Enough records and CDs to choke a horse, and enough no-talent poo to make it sick for weeks. In a room the size of most living rooms, 12" singles, albums, CDs and mailers that they came in were scattered like a musical litter box.

"Are you OK?"; I said.

"Yeah."'; She said, sounding like she was out of breath, with the looks that she saw a ghost. Poor thing.

She told me the story about how her boyfriend went awol. Only insinuated that he might have 'cheated'.
"Do you have that reel that's still uncut?"; she quickly asked.
"Yeah. The Ampex."; I said, referencing a $12 worth of 1/4" tape on a 10" 456 reel I used for only special occasions as the Otaris there loved to nibble on good tape. $20 in my pocket was a big deal then, you see. Dominos Pizza was luxury!

"Put it on."; She said, and she put her hair up.
The feel in the air just said "Do it and shut up, you'll see".
So I did.

Now, you have to imagine this older Audio Technica broadcast mic (I believe), about the width, weight and girth of a full beer can hanging from a insipid makeshift desk-lamp arm. She was behind me, as I proceeded to make levels. She backed up and BLEEEW into the mic. I mean, no music, just a-capella. But HooooLYYYY *****!! I was so happy to be in front of her where she could not see my face at the desk. I could feel my face going into contortions I never thought could happen. She sang loud, she sang incredibly soulful, and the room was ringing with this voice! Her vocal range was accurate and staggeringly tight for a hurt soul. The whole top level of the building could have heard her, if anyone was there, but there wasn't. I rode the board for level, as occasionally even she forgot mic ediquite, and didn't back up from the mic when she blew hard. She went though about 5-10 different R&B songs of the day, the only thing I could remember was she started with "Get Here" by Oleta Adams and it exploded like a bomb after that in many directions, fragmented and random.

She was not only pouring out, she was hurt. I'm not kidding. It was shocking that a female could sing like that. My mouth was open the whole time. I'll never forget it. It was like being on a rollercoster in the dark that whooped your ***.

Before I knew it, at 15IPS, 1/2 of the reel was full. My right hand on the rotary turn pot was white nuckled. I don't think it went past "2".

"Okay. Thanks."; She said and left, without another word.

I sat there stunned and didn't even go to eat dinner. My appetite was gone. I listened to it over and over. The only thing I could not avoid thinking is her TALENT but.....

The girl was not "Hot" looking, just ordinary. It dismissed any hope of me gathering courage of calling my "report" buddies at Epic or Polygram for a slobbering A&R guy. No, twas not worth it. Not gonna embarrass her either. What was on that tape was her unwinding only, private and individual like dirty laundry.
I didn't have the courage to ask her if I could send it to anyone. Mariah Carey was more popular than H20 then, and this was before "Emotions". No, there was no way.

She never spoke about that early night again. It was like it never happened. The next day, she was fine and looked normal! No, not even a word that she just blew my doors off. It was almost like a private secret between friends.

Two weeks later, I proceeded to flog that tape over the bulk magnet. Never saw her after we graduated, but she wrote a nice few words on a picture she gave me. Wherever she is, I can say for maybe the good of her sake, she's no where near the music business.

This was a true story.

The end.

[RicP]

Hey EMI...You need $$?

Want to make a bundle quickly?

Remaster the Beatles Collection for SACD NOW!

:)

[Claviusb]

I keep thinking a better title for this thread is "Mariah no longer a Virgin"...

[Grant]

Originally posted by Uncle Al
[B]A thought on Mariah:


I really cannot name a SINGLE Mariah song that I would play again.


Actually, stuff from the first two albums were pretty good. "Vision Of Love" was a terriffic debut single.

If she wants to survive in the MUSIC biz, she must follow her heart.

That's what I said a long time ago.

[Grant]

Originally posted by Uncle Al
[B]A thought on Mariah:


I really cannot name a SINGLE Mariah song that I would play again.


Actually, stuff from the first two albums were pretty good. "Vision Of Love" was a terriffic debut single.

If she wants to survive in the MUSIC biz, she must follow her heart.

That's what I said a long time ago.

[Mart]

Originally posted by Uncle Al
I really cannot name a SINGLE Mariah song that I would play again. If she wants to survive in the MUSIC biz, she must follow her heart. Imagine having such enorous talent that you could do whatever YOU wanted to do, but somehow felt you needed guidance (management, producers, record companies).


Or, we could have a singing version of Demi Moore. Once, she had the clout & funds to make her own decisions the result was occupational self destruction.

[Todd Fredericks]

I'm sure Mariah Carey will find another label and keep going on. It seems like she's slowly making steps to recover from her break-down (which was probably brewing for years). I've never really listened to her music but you only gotta wish people the best of luck.

For me, the striking aspect of that article is again how much trouble the music business (the good, the bad & the ugly) is in. The obvious thing is that the world is changing (or in some ways has changed) and what we know as entertainment has to evolve as it has in the past. The reality is that the stable door (MP3's, CD-R's, piracey, sharing/trading, etc.) has been wide open for several years and it's a new frontier. Barnes & Noble helped boost their sales by making changes how they did business. Remember how browsing in a bookstore and flipping through some books used to be felt as a big no-no? I think they realised that the key thing to help their business was to get people into their stores, feel comfortable (have some coffee, lounges, please read, etc.) and make it feel more like a community. I like going to bookshops more since these chnages started happening. Is it me or is "new" music just not as exiciting as it used to be? We need excitement to want and support stuff... It's not the customer's fault that he/she isn't attracted to the product (someone should tell them that).

Todd

[Sckott]

That's true about bookstores. I love walking around looking at music with a cup of hot joe in my hand.

It's true too that music isn't what it was, and now it's not going to pay off for a long time that's gonna make labels or the music industry change.

Hopefully something will shift real soon!

[Todd Fredericks]

Well, I'm kind of in a strange "spiritual" mood today but maybe it's just not the music business or entertainment but the world. The world needs more positive excitement! How many more songs (mine included) can we have about how terrible life is?

Todd

[Mart]

Todd Fredericks-

I take it you're in the mood for some '80s bubble pop. Stacey Q anyone? :D