Label switch for the Material Girl?
The story about Madonna possibly leaving Warner Music has arrived to the business pages of the online edition of UK’s newspaper The Times, with no real update or confirmed news compared to the earlier reports, besides the fact that the rumour is apparently strong enough to make its way to the Times itself, of course.
“Madonna is considering leaving Warner Music, her career-long record label, to move to Live Nation, the venues and promotions company, in a deal valued by music industry executives at about $100 million.
The agreement being talked about involves combining the superstars future recordings with her proven ability to generate massive income touring.
Warner has yet to acknowledge defeat, but industry executives expect the singer to move and receive a pay-out that would be in line with the £50 million that Robbie Williams received from EMI in 2002. It would be a significant coup for the Los Angeles-based Live Nation, which is Britain’s leading venue owner and promoter, running Wembley Arena and owning the Brixton Academy. Until now, Live Nation has barely been involved in the recorded music business, although the talks reflect the fact that Madonna’s future earnings are likely to be dominated by touring.
Confessions, her 2006 tour, grossed an estimated $260.1 million, according to Billboard, including eight sellout dates at Wembley Arena, which grossed £11.8 million.
The agreement reflects growing industry efforts to strike new deals with artists that include access to their touring income because the future for recording sales is so bleak.”
From timesonline.co.uk.