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."

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?

Universal gets a little Buzz

Interesting little snippet: Universal has thrown some cash in the direction of Buzznet, although through its Interscope label - which suggests it's a smart move by someone away from the centre of the company rather than a strategy devised by the lumbering giant itself.

It also appears that Buzznet have, through some share-shuffling, taken full ownership of Stereogum. Naturally, the 'gum will declare the link with Universal when writing about Universal artists... won't they?

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?

Interscope Records move Josh Homme away from Jimmy Iovine for the staff Christmas lunch

Josh Homme has a somewhat low opinion of his record label, it turns out:

"Fuck the labels, man, they suck. The last thing they're stripping down is their own expense accounts and shit. I mean, (President) Jimmy Iovine of Interscope Records takes a private jet or rides first class to tell a band they don't get tour support...I'm not gonna be quiet because the American label, not Canada, not Europe, but our American label's fucking us like crazy, so fuck them...I'm not even bitter, people say labels are evil, no. They're just lame."

"They can't do anything to me. That's the difference...they can't stop me from being me and from playing, but they can lose their jobs and have to fucking work at Shakey's pizza like they should've all along."

"I have a retarded record company. They're all locked in their hysteria of a business that they don't understand, you know. Playing it safe and being panicked have no business in music."

He also added that they've been skimping on office supplies, buying off-brand sticky notes that don't actually fucking stick to any fucking thing and cheap biros that burst in your fucking pockets.

Fergie: Your name here

There's a thin line between promoting a product and selling your soul, and where it lies depends a lot on who you are and what you're promoting.

But taking cash to write a song praising a product - not as an advertising jingle, but to sit in your repertoire? That's not even a grey area, it makes you no better than Fay Weldon.

Step forward Fergie, who is now pocketing cash and singing praises of Candies, a US clothing chain. But obviously, if you're willing to replace your creative process with your pocket book and contract negotiations, it might just as well be AT&T, or McDonalds, or Swift Boat Veterans for Justice:

Last week Fergie was on tour, but her advisers said such product placement was the future. “With record sales in decline, you must find novel ways to make money out of the music. The trick is to make the brand part of the song so that it slips down easily rather than chokes the fan,” said an executive at Interscope, Fergie’s record company in Los Angeles.

“Candie’s will reach teens, but it has no say over exactly what Fergie will sing, or when. Fans might think she is just singing about candy. But it’s got to work in the song. Fergie does not sing jingles.”

The implication that a jingle is less honest than this just won't wash - at least when Justin Timberlake goes "ba-ba-ba-ba-ba, I'm loving it", the deal is explicit and clear.

It's interesting that Fergie's people are clearly embarrassed by the deal, with their "some people might not even realise it's an advert" bluster. But if that was the case, what exactly are the clothes shop paying for?

[UPDATE: 12-07-07: Fergie says she's going to take legal action against The Sunday Times over the original story]