Friday, October 08, 2004
By Roger Friedman- FoxNews

Will Madonna Seek $anctuary With a New Label?

The rumor of the week in the record business is too much fun to pass up, especially with Howard Stern making similar headlines.

I told you months ago that Stern was seen at Sirius Satellite Radio's Rockefeller Center studios. It was no surprise to this column that he finally announced a deal with them this week.

Now, Madonna may be setting up to be an entrepreneur again. At first, the Web site HitsDailyDouble.com suggested that Madonna and her manager Caresse Henry — whose other client is Jessica Simpson — would be heading to Sanctuary Management and Records. This would mean leaving behind Warner Music Group, the only home Madonna's ever had.

When I first mentioned this to one of Madonna's key former associates at WMG, he laughed, "Madonna going to Sanctuary? She's bigger than they are."

HitsDailyDouble retreated from its position a bit by saying that Henry might join Sanctuary Management, but Madonna would stay put at Warner. Hmmm....


If you don't know, Sanctuary is a management company and a record company run out of England, where the boutique upstart has about eight albums on the charts.

It also has a book-publishing arm and has gotten into merchandising for its clients, who include Destiny's Child and Beyoncé, Ray Davies of The Kinks, The Who, Mary J. Blige and, since Tuesday, rapper Nelly.

Andy Taylor and Rod Smallwood started the company in 1976. Among those in charge is Peter Asher, a longtime favorite in the business who managed and produced James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, and Linda Ronstadt at different times.

His sister, Jane Asher, was Paul McCartney's girlfriend in the ’60s, and Asher had a hit of his own in 1966 as Peter and Gordon with McCartney's "A World Without Love."

In just the last few days though, something is definitely different about Sanctuary. Is Madonna coming as an investor or an artist?

A key Sanctuarian was coy with me yesterday, but little changes may portend bigger ones.

For example, Sanctuary has suddenly a very clean and informative Web site that lays out its entire business, including its annual report. Is the company preparing for an upsurge of interest? Is it because of Madonna?

It's not such a far-fetched idea. Madonna has little reason to stay at Warner Music Group at this point.

She's sold her interest in Maverick Records to them, and her most recent album, "American Life," was a dud. Her catalog remains with Warner, but eventually she could bring it to a place like Sanctuary for re-issues with outtakes, B-sides and an eventual boxed set.

Sanctuary is essentially a British company, and one small enough that Madonna — an Anglophile — could have some control over as its franchise artist and investor.

What about Henry? Well, Sanctuary relies heavily on its management business, so Henry — who really only has two clients — would fit right in.

Madonna might also be able to bring her longtime flack Liz Rosenberg with her. Rosenberg, who is paid by Warner Music Group, essentially works just for Madonna when she's not helping out with Cher.

Neither Madonna or Cher is what you'd call an "active" Warner artist. Those would be Linkin Park and Green Day.

So hold on to your hats, folks, because if the Sanctuary/Madonna rumor is true, it will be a thunderbolt in a business that's foundering. The record industry needs new ideas badly, and no one has a flair for shaking things up like Madonna.


taken from DrownedMadonna.com

she's still got an album or two to go on her contract.

ehuffnsd said:

Grain of salt time!

This is from FoxNews and they are....FoxNews. You can read a thread in P&R where a guy made up quotes and contributed them to Kerry. Plus, they did a story on Madonna saying her career was done because her shows weren't sold out. Of course this wasn't true at all....unless you listen to them and their explianation...that scalpers tickets were unsold! Poor things. These are the kind of insiders that Fox news is associated with. Friends in high places. The scalpers were probably pissed off and told this Fox News (well, not this, but the one who wrote that story) and told them to write the story as a favor ("Hey, I'll get you Madonan tickets if you do?").

Sanctuary is a real small label that I most often see with major artists that tend to be older or are no longer on major labels. Pet Shop Boys "Release" and possibly "Disco 3" were released by Sanctuary. If (and very big if) Madonna joins them, I'm sure she'll get a lot of stock and be a big part of the label. And it is a bit of coincidence consdering Howard's announcement.

Fox stories always have somewhat misleading information in them and always have a very negative slant against people they don't like. They also try to sound like insiders and end up sounding very stupid. What's with the active artist bullshit? Cher released, this year and last year, a "Very Best Of..." CD, DVD, live CD and a combo of both CDs (the live DVD I don't think as any Warners connection, nor do most live videos, which are often done by certain companies like Image). That VBO disc was in the top ten or top twenty for months and then sank when they released the live album with the hits CD, probably because people were so damn confused by being hit with so much product at once and it divded the sales between three seperate units. Anyway, I don't know how you can consider them not active when they just released stuff last year, and in the case of Cher, very sucessfully.

this story was reported by many Madonna sites before Fox printed it.


Maybe they got it from them... but it is for sure that Ms Henry did sign with them

She better do what Prince did!!!!!