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Forums > Music: Non-Prince > ANNIE LENNOX DROPPED FROM LABEL..."It was a kick in the teeth. They didn't return my phone calls or emails..."
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Thread started 01/15/08 4:26am

MikeMatronik

ANNIE LENNOX DROPPED FROM LABEL..."It was a kick in the teeth. They didn't return my phone calls or emails..."

Annie Lennox was left devastated after she was dropped from her record label - and has branded the move a "kick in the teeth".

The former Eurythmics star was stunned when Sony BMG stopped answering her phone calls just weeks before her contract was due to expire.

Lennox, 53, insists she was shocked at the way she was treated by the company which once hailed her as "one of the finest musical voices of the age".

She says, "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!"

The singer admits she has been left contemplating her future in the music industry.

She adds, "It feels like I'm spent, as if I've completely run out of energy. I'm going to take my time over the coming months to figure out what to do with this freedom."

Lennox's last album, Songs of Mass Destruction, charted at number nine in the Billboard 200 chart in October 2007, selling a healthy 78,000 copies during its first week of release in the U.S.
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Reply #1 posted 01/15/08 4:29am

lastdecember

avatar

Sony/BMG has been "dropping" and not resigning alot of people/artists, theres alot of talk about them having some serious financial issues right now and having to really cut alot of people and just not resign anyone with expiring contracts.

"We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F
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Reply #2 posted 01/15/08 4:39am

SoulAlive

She should try one of those Starbucks deals,like Paul McCartney did with his recent album.The major labels don't care about you when you're over 40 years old anyway.
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Reply #3 posted 01/15/08 4:43am

JackieBlue

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lastdecember said:

Sony/BMG has been "dropping" and not resigning alot of people/artists, theres alot of talk about them having some serious financial issues right now and having to really cut alot of people and just not resign anyone with expiring contracts.


Hmm, I was wondering about their future. Maybe something major is about to go down.
Been gone for a minute, now I'm back with the jump off
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Reply #4 posted 01/15/08 4:50am

SunnySkies

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Was the album good? I still haven`t heard it...
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Reply #5 posted 01/15/08 5:15am

MendesCity

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SunnySkies said:

Was the album good? I still haven`t heard it...


The album is excellent, really the best she's done since "Savage" in my opinion. A good mix of rockier stuff and mellow electronica.

I hope she doesn't retire because of this.
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Reply #6 posted 01/15/08 5:16am

lastdecember

avatar

JackieBlue said:

lastdecember said:

Sony/BMG has been "dropping" and not resigning alot of people/artists, theres alot of talk about them having some serious financial issues right now and having to really cut alot of people and just not resign anyone with expiring contracts.


Hmm, I was wondering about their future. Maybe something major is about to go down.


a friend that i have at Sony/BMG is a marketing rep that goes around to different reatil outlets, and she said it reminds her alot of when she was with Polygram which became Universal and than when she was with Emi and alot of their offices closed down, it usually happens this time of year because the fiscal year closes in about 4 weeks so labels tend to restructure. But she did tell me that one of her bosses actually said "letting Katharine Mcphee is something we are going to regret".

"We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F
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Reply #7 posted 01/15/08 5:18am

lastdecember

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MendesCity said:

SunnySkies said:

Was the album good? I still haven`t heard it...


The album is excellent, really the best she's done since "Savage" in my opinion. A good mix of rockier stuff and mellow electronica.

I hope she doesn't retire because of this.


Yeah i agree with that, i hope she doesnt go into hiding because of this. She should go to the starbucks label, since it seems to be beneficial to everyone that has gone their, and also seems to give creative boosts, Paul McCartney is almost ready with his next album, less than a year after his last one.

"We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F
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Reply #8 posted 01/15/08 5:22am

WildheartXXX

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SunnySkies said:

Was the album good? I still haven`t heard it...


My friend is big Annie fan and said it was her best album in ages and a little edgier that her previous solo material. I think this is indeed proof that talent means absolutely nothing today. The industry is killing itself. This i think will be a good thing for Annie. If she should go the independent route it will bring her closer to her audience and maybe less illegal downloading.
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Reply #9 posted 01/15/08 7:25am

bboy87

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eek How in the fuck are you gonna drop Annie Lennox?! eek eek eek
"We may deify or demonize them but not ignore them. And we call them genius, because they are the people who change the world."
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Reply #10 posted 01/15/08 8:06am

MikeMatronik

bboy87 said:

eek How in the fuck are you gonna drop Annie Lennox?! eek eek eek


airplane...rope...she jumps...splash and boom on da flo!
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Reply #11 posted 01/15/08 8:35am

Dance

na na na na

hey hey hey

goodbye

I bet she'll change her tune now.
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Reply #12 posted 01/15/08 9:00am

MikeMatronik

Dance said:

na na na na

hey hey hey

goodbye

I bet she'll change her tune now.


OMG!

A BANANARAMA REFERENCE! eek eek eek eek eek
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Reply #13 posted 01/15/08 9:47am

VANITYSprisonB
YTCH

I work at EMI and 2,000 of us about get the axe....I want severance already!!!!!
Every minute of last night is on my face today....
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Reply #14 posted 01/15/08 12:28pm

NDRU

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I remember Elvis Costello said one of the reasons he left Columbia (I think that's what Sony used to be?) was that they dropped Johnny Cash from the label.

He said he was just baffled "how do you drop Johnny Cash?"
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Reply #15 posted 01/15/08 1:04pm

meow85

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This business is fucked up.
"A Watcher scoffs at gravity!"
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Reply #16 posted 01/15/08 3:26pm

incognito

Annie should be happy she's away from Sony. Sony is the worst major record label when it comes to the treatment of artist and how to market singles. Lennox has one of the best female voices in the industry. She will be around for years.
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Reply #17 posted 01/15/08 3:42pm

Moonbeam

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She's better off without them, to be honest. Bare was a magnificent album, and its singles "Pavement Cracks", "A Thousand Beautiful Things" and "Wonderful" all had potential to turn the album into a big seller, but they didn't even allow videos to be shot. Annie herself says that she feels those songs "got away from her" in one of her blogs.
Feel free to join in the Prince Album Poll 2018! Let'a celebrate his legacy by counting down the most beloved Prince albums, as decided by you!
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Reply #18 posted 01/15/08 4:02pm

Xagain

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Moonbeam said:

She's better off without them, to be honest. Bare was a magnificent album, and its singles "Pavement Cracks", "A Thousand Beautiful Things" and "Wonderful" all had potential to turn the album into a big seller, but they didn't even allow videos to be shot. Annie herself says that she feels those songs "got away from her" in one of her blogs.



And those songs were good live, too, huh?

But overall, I think "Songs" is more a Eurythmics kind of album than her other solo work. And although I really dig Eurythmics, I prefer the more introspective "Diva" and "Bare" to any E album. "Songs" has some great songs, true. But to me, the other 2 are absolutely perfect.

Not that that has anything to do with her getting dropped from her label.

Besides, when she was working on "Songs," she had said it would be her last real album. So it surprises me that she needs "months" to figure out what to do. confused She doesn't have any ideas? I mean, she ALREADY takes 5 years to record an album.
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Reply #19 posted 01/15/08 5:12pm

TANKAEFC

You're right about that. It's seeming like, where the youth-focused industry (affecting more than just music, btw) is concerned, the "straw that broke the camel's back" moment is coming closer and closer to being inevitable.

SoulAlive said:

She should try one of those Starbucks deals,like Paul McCartney did with his recent album.The major labels don't care about you when you're over 40 years old anyway.
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Reply #20 posted 01/15/08 5:25pm

2freaky4church
1

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Start your own label girl, what's her problem?
All you others say Hell Yea!! woot!
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Reply #21 posted 01/15/08 5:36pm

Lammastide

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Was this before or after her whole "I don't wanna sell independently on the internet" rant? Seems this development might make that option a bit more attractive.

For the better, perhaps. She's amazing, and if Sony's bottom-line issues would quell her output, I say good riddance, Sony. She should call up Starbucks. Joni and McCartney seem well taken care of there.
Ὅσον ζῇς φαίνου
μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ
πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶ τὸ ζῆν
τὸ τέλος ὁ χρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ.”
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Reply #22 posted 01/16/08 3:07am

rocknrolldave

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So presumably since the record company are so reluctant to make any more records with her or even talk to her or damnit even EMAIL her back, this means they are no longer going to cash the royalty cheques that still roll in to them from the existing albums she has made.....?
This is not an exit
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Reply #23 posted 01/16/08 12:52pm

Cinnie

Sony can't afford her lol
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Reply #24 posted 01/16/08 12:52pm

Cinnie

2freaky4church1 said:

Start your own label girl, what's her problem?

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Reply #25 posted 01/16/08 9:43pm

Anxiety

from annie lennox's myspace page:

Just for your attention...An article has been published in today's Daily Mirror stating that I'd been "dumped" by Sony BMG. As you know, this is completely untrue. My recording contract with the company has simply expired.

They obviously have been reading my blogs, but have completely misinterpreted and misreported what I've written.

I was referring to being totally let down by the South African branch of Sony BMG who completely disappeared, when I came to perform for the 46664 campaign in Johannesburg. In the same blog, I complimented the Norwegian company, who were absolutely great...as were the representatives from Italy and France. I had a meeting with Ged Docherty, the head of UK Sony BMG this afternoon, who was absolutely mortified by the piece. The paper will be publishing a retraction tomorrow.

Annie


Please find the statement from Sony BMG UK below:


London - 15/01/08 -

Sony BMG UK sets the record straight on the company's relationship with Annie Lennox reported in today's Daily Mirror and other media

Sony BMG today moved to set the record straight on its relationship with Annie Lennox following a ludicrous report originating in the Daily Mirror that the artist had been dropped by her label.

Annie's career with the company has spanned over 25 years, including 15 as a solo artist, and seen her become one of the UK's greatest ever artists, with 80 million album sales and 33 hit singles.

In that time Annie has been honoured with 4 Grammies, 11 BRIT Awards, 5 Ivor Novello Awards, an Oscar and 2 Golden Globes among many other accolades.

Her last album due under the existing contract was released in October 2007.

Ged Doherty, Chairman of Sony BMG Music Entertainment UK, said "We are immensely proud to have worked with Annie over more than 2 decades. She now has a choice as to whether she wants to continue to work with us in the future. We very much hope that she will."

The quotes attributed to Annie's dissatisfaction with her label arose out of a trip in December to South Africa and have no relevance to the expiry of her contract.

Sony BMG will continue to work with Annie on her current album as well as on her SING project in support of HIV AIDS sufferers http://www.annielennoxsing.com
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Reply #26 posted 01/16/08 10:00pm

Lammastide

avatar

Anxiety said:

from annie lennox's myspace page:

Just for your attention...An article has been published in today's Daily Mirror stating that I'd been "dumped" by Sony BMG. As you know, this is completely untrue. My recording contract with the company has simply expired.

They obviously have been reading my blogs, but have completely misinterpreted and misreported what I've written.

I was referring to being totally let down by the South African branch of Sony BMG who completely disappeared, when I came to perform for the 46664 campaign in Johannesburg. In the same blog, I complimented the Norwegian company, who were absolutely great...as were the representatives from Italy and France. I had a meeting with Ged Docherty, the head of UK Sony BMG this afternoon, who was absolutely mortified by the piece. The paper will be publishing a retraction tomorrow.

Annie


Please find the statement from Sony BMG UK below:


London - 15/01/08 -

Sony BMG UK sets the record straight on the company's relationship with Annie Lennox reported in today's Daily Mirror and other media

Sony BMG today moved to set the record straight on its relationship with Annie Lennox following a ludicrous report originating in the Daily Mirror that the artist had been dropped by her label.

Annie's career with the company has spanned over 25 years, including 15 as a solo artist, and seen her become one of the UK's greatest ever artists, with 80 million album sales and 33 hit singles.

In that time Annie has been honoured with 4 Grammies, 11 BRIT Awards, 5 Ivor Novello Awards, an Oscar and 2 Golden Globes among many other accolades.

Her last album due under the existing contract was released in October 2007.

Ged Doherty, Chairman of Sony BMG Music Entertainment UK, said "We are immensely proud to have worked with Annie over more than 2 decades. She now has a choice as to whether she wants to continue to work with us in the future. We very much hope that she will."

The quotes attributed to Annie's dissatisfaction with her label arose out of a trip in December to South Africa and have no relevance to the expiry of her contract.

Sony BMG will continue to work with Annie on her current album as well as on her SING project in support of HIV AIDS sufferers http://www.annielennoxsing.com

Ah, so Sony's not nuts after all.
Ὅσον ζῇς φαίνου
μηδὲν ὅλως σὺ λυποῦ
πρὸς ὀλίγον ἐστὶ τὸ ζῆν
τὸ τέλος ὁ χρόνος ἀπαιτεῖ.”
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Reply #27 posted 01/16/08 10:18pm

Cinnie

k good lol

Thanks Anx
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Forums > Music: Non-Prince > ANNIE LENNOX DROPPED FROM LABEL..."It was a kick in the teeth. They didn't return my phone calls or emails..."