All the Madonna fansites are buzzing with this exclusive story,from reliable sources...



Madonna has already had conversations with other record lables and it seems there is no way she will be returning to Warner Bros.

During tour rehearsals she has been having meetings with Sony and that is where she will most likely go.They have Guy Ritchie under contract for his films and are dying to get Madonna (you would think their experience with Michael Jackson has left them with a bad taste when dealing with icons).Sony doesn't even care that 'Swept Away' made no money,they respect Guy and love Madonna,they are prepared to pay $100 million to buy Maverick Records outright,Madonna would still have her percent in the company and they would offer Madonna a huge contract (this would be one of the biggest artist recording deals ever).

Here is where the issue gets a little convoluted...Sony is also pioneering the "blue-ray" dvd or HD-DVD which is more crisp and clear than regular dvds.They really want the current Madonna concert for the new format and this is all history repeating.If you remember,the 'Blond Ambition' tour did not come out on tape but was one of the largest-selling laser discs of all time.In this case,the 'Re-invention' Tour will not be released on DVD but exclusively on the new blue-ray (there's also the upcoming tour documentary being filmed by Jona Akerlund).

The one caveat is the Warner and Maverick lawsuit.Warner wants $170-200 million for Maverick which Sony is not prepared to pay.

Madonna also likes the fact that Sony has studios and offices in New York,Los Angeles and London,making business more convenient for her.

Liz Rosenberg works for Warners and not Madonna,but has already decided to follow Madonna wherever she goes (she has already been asked,as well as other members of the team).

Warner Bros. studio never got involved with distributing Maverick's movies,but Sony wants those as well.They will also offer Madonna more money per CD and she and Guy will produce more movies together through Maverick.

It will be weird if Madonna goes to a new label because there will be no more hits or remix collections featuring her early and recent work,but we can expect Warners to milk the machine with boxed sets and remix albums when she is gone.

Nothing will happen on these fronts for several months.The Warner lawsuit and value of Maverick must be decided beforehand,but the people in the know are already talking: In 2005,Madonna and Maverick will be at Sony

"nobody knows me, nobody knows me, nobody knows me, l-l-l-like SONY"...

1. Why would they pay $100M for such an unreliable star. Do they think a 45-year-old really has that many hits left in her?

2. Why would they ever want Madonna & Guy working on a project together again?

This could turn out to be a great deal for Madonna,and for Sony too.It could breathe new life into her recording career.In recent years,Warners has done a lousy job with the promotion of most of their artists.But I wonder if it's wise for Maddy to insist on bringing Maverick with her? She should close down that label and start over with a new,exciting label which would,of course,be distributed by Sony.I'm just not sure if Maverick is worth all the trouble anymore.With the exception of Michelle Branch and Alanis Morrisette,it's not really a big money-making company anyway.

What's the deal with these "blue-ray" dvds? Do they play on a regular DVD player?

VoicesCarry said:

One thing to remember is that you can NEVER count Madonna out.'American Life' is the ONLY real "flop" album of her career.Every other album has been hugely successful and there's no reason to believe that she won't have any more big hits.Whenever folks start saying that she's "over",that's when she always proves them wrong.Her 1993 "backlash" was quickly followed by "Take A Bow" (her biggest hit single ever),'Evita' and 'Ray Of Light'.Last year,folks were once again saying that's she's finished.And now,she's on a tour that's expected to be the biggest-grossing tour of the year.The moral of the story? Never bet against an artist like Madonna.


I certainly don't expect her to sell records like she did in the 80s,but so what? She still has a loyal,sizable fanbase all around the world.But anyway,I think that $100 Million figure is how much Sony is willing to pay for Maverick.

well...its seems every time these artist sign these huge deals...they go nowhere.....

That will be good for Madonna if she gives up techno pop...it got soo boring....However music,american life (the songs)are some of the best things she ever did...AL album is especially boring as it is techno from beginning to end...except couple of tracks

LightOfArt said:

I think Maddy just needs to make another "fun" album again.Alot of people were turned off by 'American Life' because it was simply too bleak.Lyrically,it may have been difficult for many folks to relate to what she was singing about.It'll be interesting to see what direction she pursues next.

i hope that she doesn't sony is already the largest congomerate- for fucks' sake that don't need any other artist!!

Great, maybe we'll see another "open letter to Madonna" from Prince trying to get her to get Sony to buy his masters back from Warner.....

DavidEye said:

Actually, my point is that is she worth $100M (it would have to be around that number to qualify as "one of the biggest recording deals ever")? To justify that price, she needs to start moving units at the same rate she did in the 80's, which isn't going to happen. Deals like that have a history of being worthless to the label (exception: Janet's $32M deal with Virgin in '93); I highly doubt Sony would pay that kind of change for an artist who at most will sell 2-3 million units of a "highly successful" album (even Music only shifted 3 million).
[This message was edited Wed Jun 2 13:16:37 2004 by VoicesCarry]