Warners hoped dead guy offers prospect of easy dollars

With living big stars proving to be something of a stroppy handful Warners are pinning their hopes on dead guys. They've done a deal to take on Frank Sinatra, covering his records, films, and likeness, in a joint venture with his kids.

It means we should be bracing ourselves for a range of image-destroying tat a la John Lennon toys or banana-flavoured Elvis Peanut Butter cups:

"There are very few licenses out on Sinatra besides the traditional audio and video products so the future is wide open for us to explore all possibilities in all ranges of products," Jimmy Edwards, an executive from Warner's Rhino Entertainment which will be managing the day-to-day operations.

Do-be-do-be-do shoes, perhaps.

Edwards, who declined to comment on the financial aspects of the deal or Sinatra's current worth, said Warner would continue to seek to forge deeper relationship with select artists as music companies could not survive on just CD sales.

"I think you can expect to see more deals like this, but Sinatra, a worldwide icon, is one of kind and there will never be another deal exactly like this," he said.

So, we should look out for more deals like this even although there will never be another deal like this. You wonder why Warners are in trouble, don't you?