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Virgin Records, Mariah Carey part ways after one album
Virgin Records and Mariah Carey announced today (1/24) the termination of a multi-album deal between the two parties. As part of the settlement, Carey received a payment of $28 million and will retain the $21 million she received when she initially signed with Virgin last April.
Carey’s departure follows disappointing sales of her latest album “Glitter”--which has sold fewer than 500,000 copies in the U.S. to date--and poor reviews of her movie of the same name. Carey was hospitalized this summer just prior to the release of the album and movie after suffering what her publicist termed “an emotional and physical breakdown.”
In a joint press release issued by Carey’s publicist and Virgin’s parent company, EMI Recorded Music, Carey said, “This is the right decision for me. I look forward to the many new and exciting opportunities, which have now been presented to me. I wish Virgin well.”
EMI chairman and CEO Alain Levy said of the split, “We have decided that this is the most prudent course of action for EMI. We wish Mariah the best.”
Some controversy has erupted regarding how the news of Carey's departure has been announced. Carey's publicist issued a press release alleging that a second EMI press release--issued separately from the joint press release--inaccurately portrayed the agreement between the two parties. The press release from Carey's publicist reads:
As stated in the joint press release of Mariah Carey and EMI/Virgin Records, the agreement between the two parties was amicably terminated with benefits to and for Mariah Carey of $49 million for the one album she delivered. The release [that was] independently issued by [EMI] is in direct violation of the agreement between the parties. It is also false. It states that EMI itself terminated the agreement. Not true. It fails to state that the total package for Mariah Carey is $49 million.
Carey’s attorney Marshall Grossman said he was surprised that EMI had issued a separate press release. “Right now we are simply doing what we can to correct the misinformation contained in the EMI press release. We did not anticipate a breach of contract before the ink was dried.”
EMI, in turn, issued a statement insisting the corporation had not violated the terms of the agreement.
