Morrissey 'parts company' with his label

It's been a great summer for Morrissey, right? The new album was given massive support, and garnered a lot of applause (although the record itself wasn't really a leap forward). Even the NME, forever outside the circle now, had to swallow it and produce an entire issue inspired by the release, in a "lots of interviews with people who were involved apart from Morrissey" style.

He must be thrilled.

His label must be delighted.

Oh... hang on:

Three weeks after the release of Morrissey's World Peace Is None Of Your Business (#2 UK, #14 US), Capitol Records/Harvest have ended their relationship with Morrissey, as directed by label boss Steve Barnett.

Morrissey is once again in search of a record label.

Got to love that line; painting Morrissey as very much the Littlest Hobo of indie pop.

It seems there's been a falling out. Morrissey appears to believe that the label hadn't made enough of a splash:

I am indebted to three sources that have placed their own well-crafted videos on You Tube for the song World peace is none of your business. The three individual sources are named as Sharon Jheeta, Héctor González and wpeace123456. These videos fully understand the intent of the song, and I am relieved that these films exist. Yes, a similar document ought to have been harvested by the record label, but please understand that the pop or rock industry can be as dedicated to perpetuating public deception as the world of politics itself. God bless social media!

Liberty, equality and fraternity are the essence of the song; no monarchic rule, no political hierarchies, no bought-and-paid-for government thugs, security forces no longer beyond prosecution, and an end to megalomania, repression and corruption. Meat consumption is climate change, and if ever there were a self-evident lost cause it is the British so-called "royal family". Societies have never been so nervous; Pan Am Flight 103 differs not a jot from Malaysian Flight 17. The United Nations failure to imprison Tony Blair and George W. Bush for war crimes against Iraq has told us all that there can never be enough bloodshed, and the world is suffering its worst nervous breakdown. Do not feel powerless!

Many apparently powerless causes have succeeded in shifting political stupidity and greed. You are intellectual sanity. It is possible for nonviolent change; there are more people than there are aging despots; there are more people than there are world leaders. In truth, the world is leaderless. Please stop watching Fox News; anti-monarchial Britain has given up on the BBC – we know that every slot is paid for. We know that the number 1 position on the pop charts is "bought"; this is not 1955.

Thank you to all of my friends in Israel, Chile, Sweden, Poland, Argentina, Hungary, Romania, Finland and Italy who bought World peace is none of your business. It is 30 years on since The Smiths album entered the UK chart at number 2 with zero airplay and zero promotion, and the struggle for the airwaves remains difficult. Yet, I am writing this to you now, and you are reading it.

In answer to many people who have asked, I should like to finally make it clear that I have not received any television invitations – worldwide! – to either discuss World peace is none of your business, or even to sing any songs from the album.

Thank you for reading this. We have our first World peace is none of your business concert booked in Lisbon (Portugal) on October 6th.

All we have is each other.

for the animals, for intellectual sanity ...

Pssst, Mozzer. If you're going to point to the number two position for your album as a good thing in one part of True To You, you might not want to insist that every position in the charts on the charts is bought.

But then, there's no coherent logic to this post at all - indeed, had Courtney Love published it, the internet would be rolling round snurkling at the crazy rant. But because Mozzer is a bloke, it even gets a respectful write-up on the BBC, despite how Britain (or maybe just the anti-Monarchial bit of Britain) has given up on them.

Where do you even start? The suggestion that The Smiths got zero promotion - true, if you ignore night-time Radio One, and the four music weeklies (still a big deal at the time); the offensive attempt to try and draw a line from 'not having a video made for me' with the murders of Lockerbie and Ukraine. The almost touching belief that he and Fox News would share an audience.

Maybe the standout moment is the 'it's not 1955' bit - it's not, Morrissey, which is why nobody much cares what the number one (or number two) album record is in the charts; much less how the piddly sales figure was arrived at.

And, oh, the Partridgesque "I wanna be on the telly" cry at the end - having suggested that television is just death-wank designed to keep the supine in their place, how painful to then complain that you don't get asked on. (The tendency of Morrissey to speechify along these lines might be the reason interns are not often sent to dig out his phone number; a history of saying awkward things, and then complaining when those things included are in the interview might also be an explanation.)

Perhaps all these things will be ironed out in the next episode. Until then, though...

James Arthur embraces exciting, open, bold new future

James Arthur has been dumped by Syco, who suddenly realised that there was no role for a record label in running a career which seems to consist mostly of making a dick of oneself on Twitter.

It does mean the end of the modern tradition which would see, once a month, Arthur take to Twitter to deny rumours that Syco were dropping him.

But the good news is that this will free Arthur up to spend more time building his social media presence (or "regularly turning the pile", as gardeners would describe it.)

He's started already, look:

"Just to clear things up - I am no longer with Syco. I would like to thank all at the label for making a great record with me," Arthur tweeted today (June 11).

"I now have to move on and do something different - the future is bright! #LOVE."

It's unclear what the "great record" Arthur refers to is - speculation is that some of the Syco interns and Arthur collaborated on making the world's largest rubber band ball.

Loveable Rogues no longer on Syco

Ah, the end of one of the great partnerships off our time: Loveable Rogues have been waved off by Syco:

Speaking to Jon Hornbuckle for Digital Spy, the band put the reason behind the split down to a conflict of ideas about the direction the group should take, but insisted they had parted with the Sony imprint on "good terms".

They said: "It didn't really work. We had different plans to what Syco had for us. It's different for them because we ended on good terms with them and they're not really used to that!"

It's not entirely clear what the different plans the band and Syco had, although the smart money is on Syco planning to wait until people had forgotten the band ever existed before quietly dropping them from the roster. And the band didn't have the being forgotten part of the plan.

It's odd that coming fourth in a TV talent with just over one-twentieth of the public vote hasn't led to anything apart from a solitary single. Whoever would have thought?

Epic loosens Death Grips

Death Grips decided that their album was information which wanted to free, and so slapped the music up on line. Unfortunately, they'd forgotten they'd signed to Epic, and thus had no longer actual ownership of their own art.

Epic failed them, and got cross:

Epic Records’ Head of Business & Legal Affairs Heath Kudler wrote in the email, dated 1 Oct – the same day as the leak: “Epic is extremely upset and disappointed that the artist decided to release an album without Epic’s knowledge or involvement. As you know, the artist has not only blatantly breached a number of provisions in the applicable recording agreement, it also has wilfully infringed Epic’s copyright rights with respect to these masters. Equally important, without provocation, the artist has made false and disparaging statements on various websites about Epic. All this, despite the fact that Epic has done nothing except wholeheartedly supported the band, even though the band has made certain decisions that have financially damaged Epic”.

Upset and disappointed. I suppose at least when they're telling off the people who made the music the RIAA companies pretend to have emotions - if it had been an ordinary person who had put up an album, they'd have actually just been got a drone strike.

Now, though Epic are going to drop the band - thereby totally alienating them from the product of their labours.

Matt Cardle is dropped

Sorry, did I say Matt Cardle has been dropped? Allow me to correct myself. Matt Cardle has left his record deal despite being part-way through recording an album.

It appears that it's musical differences - presumably the label wants to sell music, whereas Cardle is content merely to make it.

Cardle won something like Masterchef in 2008, or possibly Strike It Rich, which had thrown an obligation on the label to find him something to do. It's rumoured the contract with X Factor winners includes a break clause, allowing Sony to liquidate the contract the moment the singer edges into Pointless answer territory.

Steve Brookstein was unavailable for comment.

It's lucky Fred Durst has his sitcom to fall back on

Limp Bizkit's comeback album wasn't a massive success, it's fair to say. And surveying warehouses full of unsold boxes of Gold Cobra, Interscope decided there was only one course of action.

Not that Fred Durst is bothered about being dropped:

He said of 'Gold Cobra' and the band's reaction to their departure from Interscope: "One of the things with 'Gold Cobra' was that it was a record for us to do for ourselves, for the core fans, for some of the people that we know in the industry. It wasn't our step forward to make a big pop, smash radio record; we just didn't want to make that record at that time. We have been working for a while now to renavigate where we are going to take Limp Bizkit and finally we have been able to get off our label and become independent."

Aha! So it was all a cunning plan to release a record so incredibly bad only the most slavish of Fredheads would buy it (and he really must remember to thank his Aunt Maude and Nanny Peeks for that) that the label would have no choice but to drop them.

A brilliant plan. Although apparently one they've been trying to put into practice since they first released a record.

But when life hands Fred a massive box of unsold lemons, he sits down and plots the invention of a machine powered by lemons which will turn other lemons into, like, some sort of liquid that attracts, you know, really hot chicks or something like that and dude it's gonna be so cool:

"We just want to go play a concert and crush it and turn it into a big-ass party. The record thing sort of kind of always got in our way, but it's part of the game and we love writing music and it happened that we had some songs that became popular and we never thought that would happen. So with this way, we can still go tour."

He continued "and, right, Mom says I can so stay in the basement so long as I help out in the garden and take her to the Church Beetle Drive every Thursday, and she won't even care if I take friends back there, I'll bet."

He continued: "We do very, very good on our touring, and we mainly tour outside the United States. It seems like in the United States, they're waiting on a song, they're waiting on a hit, and the rest of the world doesn't necessarily operate that way. So I'm waiting until we can really give them something they can sink their teeth into and then they can be reminded about how ill Limp Bizkit is live".

"Yeah, obviously in the States the gigs don't go down so well because they're just wanting to hear, like, the song they paid to come and see, but overseas, we're like Gods. When we played Paris, France in England this time they were like, listening in respectful silence and didn't even disturb us by clapping or nothing, and when we play overseas the promoters always put us in these small rooms which means they're like hand-picking the people who come to see us and keep out the guys who just want to hear the song. Can I have a pizza? I'm hungry."

N-Dubz quit DefJam. And by 'quit' I mean 'are dropped by'

The sudden breakdown in relationships between N-Dubz and their American label DefJam is going to cause DefJam massive problems, as the company will now struggle to have their tax-loss write-down organised before the end of the financial year.

N-Dubz have ripped up the deal. If you ask them, of course. DefJam say they were dropped.

Dappy, what happened?

They might say they've dropped us but we were never going to co-operate with them when they decided to change what we are. If we had co-operated we would still be signed. But I stuck my finger up at them when they wanted us to make another TV show. Tulisa thought we should do it because we could make some money out of it, but I said no.

For them to say they dropped us makes me angry because we just didn't want to change who we are or what we do. We're not just a silly bunch of pop tarts.

Ah, so the deal fell apart due to a lack of self-awareness on the part of the silly bunch of pop tarts.

This so reminds me of the time the Banana Splits quit Elektra in a huff, declaring they weren't just a load of puppets.

Shocking news from the music industry

Perhaps to scrape together the cash to pay for the Jackson deal, Sony Records have dropped Jedward. After just the one single.

Which, to be fair to Sony, is probably one more Jedward single than most people would have bothered with.

A Sony source told The Sun: "We tried our best to make the lads credible recording artists but punters just weren't that bothered.

"They are great lads but haven't got the greatest voices, so they're something to see rather than listen to.

"Record companies are going through major upheaval so we have to be very careful what we throw our weight behind. I'm sure Jedward will be able to make a buck touring as a novelty act."

You hope that they actually said that to their faces: You're something to see rather than listen to, so perhaps go on the road as some sort of touring freak show. I hear Warners are letting their bearded lady go so, so why not think about a package tour?

Marilyn Manson hasn't been dumped, he's been handed an exciting opportunity on a pink slip

You know what? Let's not look at it like Marilyn Manson's audience have now reached puberty in such numbers that his latest album managed to barely squeak over 100,000 sales in the US. Let's not see it as if Interscope have decided that a Manson is a one-trick pony whose trick looks a little dated against a backdrop of Twilight and True Blood making cheap Goth look much sexier. Let's not see this as an end, shall we?

Let's turn that badly-drawn-with-eyeliner frown upside-down, shall we?

The singer told Metal Hammer: "We've just been released from our record contract with Interscope so I think a lot of the creative control on which my hands were tied on a lot of choices - the music videos - things like that (has been regained).

"I was so restrained from the music that I wanted to make - what they would allow, they would put out, what ideas they would allow to be conveyed in these videos. At least half of my creative output has been squashed, so now I think people can expect a whole lot more."

Mmm. Yes, it was a lack of creative freedom that was holding you back, wasn't it? Rather than a more pressing lack of creative ideas. So what's the big plan now you're "free", Marilyn? Same thing, but with more nipples?

Morrissey open to offers

If Joss Whedon finds no luck with his $10,000 offer to buy the Terminator franchise, perhaps he might consider investing in another tarnished-but-still-loved icon? Morrissey has come adrift from his record label and is seeking new positions.

Kaisers deny being dumped

Dan Wootton was claiming in today's News Of The World that the Kaiser Chiefs have been dropped.

The Kaiser Chiefs have reassured their fans that it isn't the case, and once both of them were happy, they got in touch with the NME:

However, a spokesman for the band told NME.COM there is "no contractual change to report".

"The band has two records left to run on an existing contract," he said. "Kaiser Chiefs will take their first break in six years at the end of the summer. As with many successful artists, the band is considering creative options to improve the way their music reaches people ahead of their forth album."

To be fair, Wootton never quite claimed they'd been dropped, just merely that band and label were going their separate ways, and the PR statement sounds slightly woolly. Come to that, was the stress on "many" or "successful" in that second sentence?

Leon laid-off

James P emails with upsetting news:

Sad news: After a glittering year, one album and two top-5 singles, 2007 X Factor winner Leon Jackson has been dropped by Sony.

He's keeping his chin up, saying "I had a great year and learned so much recording and releasing my album. Every artist knows these things can go either way" (which isn't quite true - George Sampson apparently didn't know that).

He adds that he's looking forward to his tour which begins later this year, and looks like being the most awkward bill in recent memory. He's being supported by X Factor runners-up, overly-toothsome brother-and-sister act Same Difference. If you can't picture this line-up, imagine a tenth-rate Michael Buble tribute act being supported by an eleventh-rate Steps tribute act. I'm sure it'll sell out, even though the evening promises to be half cheap-big-band covers and half the sort of performance you get towards the end of a local drama group's pantomime when the leading girl sings a duet with Buttons.

Where was I? Oh yes. He's been dropped.

Steady on there, James, people might think that this is the hate George Sampson society. Which, of course, it isn't; that's firmly behind the paywall.

Still, it's sad to hear that Leon Jackson's fabulous career has ended. On the bright side, he did get a couple of months longer reign than if he'd won Miss United Kingdom title, so it's not all bad. And it's not everyone who gets to do a farewell tour when they're still young enough to enjoy it.

Monkey business finished

How labels build artists' careers, part 379: Universal imprint Interscope has dropped Simian Mobile Disco (they were their US label). Still, they did persevere with them for almost eight months, so nobody could say they hadn't tried, eh?

Lennox let go, slapped in face

Now, we're not big fans of Annie Lennox round here, but we're a little slack-jawed at the way Sony BMG treated her as they decided to no longer offer her a musical home:

"They totally ignored me. It was bizarre. It was a kick in the teeth. They didn't return my phone calls or emails for three weeks. I'm trying to find out what's behind it.

"Probably a good thing I'm no longer with them - mild understatement. Unless it's them trying to tell me something... Hello!"

It's one thing to let someone go - it's a business decision, and that's fair enough - but this is a pretty shitty way to treat someone who's done good business for the label over the years. It's one step shy of dumping a girlfriend by text.

More idol droppings

More shattered dreams as audience phone-in votes prove to be a bad guide to what will be sold for cold hard cash: Katharine McPhee has been dropped.

Quinn dumped

Ray Quinn is hastily being reformatted as a "West End Star" after the X-Factor bloke got the poke from Sony BMG. Still, it's nice that Chicago exists to provide a halfway house between fame and the awkward moment when the Job Centre asks you if you have any skills.

Kelis shake turns sour

Grim news from the shrinking world of major label pop: Jive is reported to have dropped Kelis after Kelis Was Here remained on the shop shelves. The dumping has been described as "amicable", which means it was good-natured enough for Jive to pretend it was an amicable decision achieved after negotiation.

Rav reads the runes: Lohan is goin'

If Rav Singh is to be believed, Lindsay Lohan is about to be dropped both by film company and record label. Although it's debatable how much credibility you want to give a man who types this with a straight face:

Tinseltown sources tell me entertainment chiefs have held a string of meetings to discuss Lindsay's future.

Tinseltown? Has anyone called Hollywood "Tinseltown" since about the mid 1970s?

Hilton's music career: loose ends tied

Warner Music has confirmed that Paris Hilton's half-hearted attempt to use music to give something to define her other than having been created from the sperm of a rich man has been drawn to a quiet close:

A spokesman for the record label confirmed: "We are not expecting any new Paris Hilton material in the foreseeable future."

Still, it's a bit of a blow to the postproduction music video industry - they earned quarter of a million dollars, and she only made one promo. Nothing is totally without some suffering.

Less Than Jake break contract

Warners/Sire have let Less Than Jake go - apparently the band asked to be let go, and the label said OK. Presumably even Sire had forgotten they'd even existed. Vinnie from the band has posted a microrant online, in which he preempts criticism and rather ham-fistedly reminds the world that this is the second major in a row to discover that there are Fewer Less Than Jake fans than you might hope:

A few days ago it became “official” we left Sire and Warner bros to go
it alone for the moment. A few months back we talked as a band and
decided to ask Warner to release us from our contract and the one last
record we owed them. It became obvious to me and everyone else that its
time to move on and in a new direction as band.
So cue the comments from the .net and .org crowds “they made a shitty
last record”, “maybe they’ll have more horns on the next record”, “they
haven’t done anything good since pezcore anyways”, “they should have
played more ska”, “maybe they’ll find a label that promotes the record”
I’ve heard it and read it all before when we left Capitol records way
back when. Hell, I could go point by point and defend or agree with
everyone of the above statements but its not the right time to do that.
The time right now is to look at things with a fresh prespective, look
to the future- remember your history - move on. It seems obvious but
sometimes when you’re reaching for the other shore you drown in the
middle somewhere.
Thanks to everyone involved in the last few years, that gave their time,
understanding and energy to less than jake.

He forgot, though, those of us who say "now, which ones were Less Than Jake and which one was Better Than Ezra"?