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How the Mighty Have Fallen: Part I - Death of the DivaRecord labels no longer willing to pay for diva demands and special treatment |
By Elena Gorgan, Entertainment News Editor
25th of January 2007, 11:27 GMT
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If you ever though about the lifestyle of such celebrities as Jennifer Lopez, Christina Aguilera or Madonna, wishing you could walk at least one meter in their shoes (not a mile, because that would be asking too much), you'd better reconsider your options again. The days of divas are numbered and this year will most likely bring drastic changes into the way a record label treats its clients.
Britain's last major independent record company, EMI, just announced that it is deep in debt and that it plans to do some major cost-cutting in all areas that will eventually save about £120 million. Besides sacking two of the most respected executives, EMI president Alain Levy and his second in command David Munns, other steps will be taken too, sometime in the near future.
How does that translate for the stars that are signed to the big labels? Cost-cutting will affect them in that they will no longer get the special treatment to which they were accustomed, at least not at the label's expense. There will be no more private jets at their disposal, no teams of stylists and personal assistants to help them get ready at any given moment, no plush hotel rooms or entire floors vacated for their sake... nothing! At least, not if they're not willing to pay for all these themselves.
Because the problem is for now confined to the British labels, the first stars who will feel the consequences of the measures first-hand will be from the US. 'The days of record labels indulging artists are pretty much gone now. No more American divas coming in on private planes with teams of stylists, hairdressers, chefs etc. The UK had a very bad Christmas for record sales; this is the end of the line for divas. It costs too much to have them here for long. They insist on having a stylist with an assistant, hair stylist with assistant, a make-up artist with an assistant, etc etc, all of whom have to be paid for. No-one in the industry has the money to put up with it any more.', an EMI insider told the British media.
What added to the poor sales were mistakes that many record labels made with American or British artists like Paris Hilton, Robbie Williams and All Saints. For example, Warner Music paid Paris tons of money, allowed her to have her 14-strong entourage with her at all times and promoted her debut album high and low through all conceivable method. Instead, she gave them a material that sold 13,000 copies until now (it's been out since last summer) and with no foreseeable future.
Robbie Williams was signed on to EMI in 2002 for £80 million and, instead of doing the right thing and release yet another pop album, he went against the tide and recorded a material that is totally out of the mainstream music. 'Rudebox' is one amazing piece of work, artistically satisfying but with very little commercial appeal so we can see why the EMI big shots would be pissed at him.
So, there you have it! All things point that the divas are officially an endangered species.
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