OK Go Splits From Record Label EMI
Posted: Thu Mar 11, 2010 12:58 amhttp://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/03/10/ok-go-splits-from-record-label-emi/
OK Go Splits From Record Label EMI
Wall Street Journal Digital
March 10, 2010
The band OK Go may have won the right from their record label to embed music videos on file sharing sites like YouTube, but the band’s relationship with EMI didn’t survive the very public fight. As reported earlier in Rolling Stone, the band and the label reached a “mutual agreement” to part ways. OK Go plans to distribute its records on its own Paracadute Recordings label, starting with the album the group recently released on EMI, “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky.”
The band has won praise for its clever videos, including the latest for the song “This Too Shall Pass,” and use the clips as a way to promote themselves.
VIDEO - This Too Shall Pass:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJKythlXAIY
The disagreement with EMI stemmed over the fact that the label wouldn’t allow bloggers to embed the videos.
That OK Go is parting ways with EMI to form their own label isn’t totally surprising. In a recent interview with the Journal, singer Damian Kulash said, “The traditional system for distributing music has collapsed, but the rules installed by that distribution system are also gone. It opens this great expanse of creative spaces that really defy definition. ”
OK Go recorded two previous albums for EMI’s Capitol Records. Then, at a time when EMI was making cuts to its artist roster, the label picked up OK Go’s option — to the band’s surprise — and funded its new album. But around the time of the album’s release in January, mounting budget pressures at the label put a damper on radio promotion and other marketing efforts, the band says, though some at EMI took a different perspective. According to an industry source, “Radio didn’t like the record. When you’re not getting traction, you have to make a hard decision. Do you want to keep investing in this band?”
In the midst of this mounting tension, OK Go pressed to be cut free from its contract. The label agreed, perhaps because the new album was not selling as the company had hoped. “Of the Colour of the Blue Sky” has sold less than 25,000 copies in the two months since release. The band, however, saw the label’s move as act of good faith. “It’s one of the rare moments in corporate history that I’ve experienced when someone just did something nice. They had the right to step on us, and they didn’t,” said OK Go manager Jamie Kitman.
OK Go takes ownership of its album April 1 (the previous albums still belong to EMI). With that freedom comes the expense of setting up services that Capitol Records had provided, especially distribution. Today, Kitman says he’s been fielding calls from industry veterans — some of whom had been laid off from major labels — looking to work with OK Go’s start-up label. “We’ll be doing some hiring,” he said, “but please don’t send your resumes all at once.”
OK Go Splits From Record Label EMI
Wall Street Journal Digital
March 10, 2010
The band OK Go may have won the right from their record label to embed music videos on file sharing sites like YouTube, but the band’s relationship with EMI didn’t survive the very public fight. As reported earlier in Rolling Stone, the band and the label reached a “mutual agreement” to part ways. OK Go plans to distribute its records on its own Paracadute Recordings label, starting with the album the group recently released on EMI, “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky.”
The band has won praise for its clever videos, including the latest for the song “This Too Shall Pass,” and use the clips as a way to promote themselves.
VIDEO - This Too Shall Pass:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJKythlXAIY
The disagreement with EMI stemmed over the fact that the label wouldn’t allow bloggers to embed the videos.
That OK Go is parting ways with EMI to form their own label isn’t totally surprising. In a recent interview with the Journal, singer Damian Kulash said, “The traditional system for distributing music has collapsed, but the rules installed by that distribution system are also gone. It opens this great expanse of creative spaces that really defy definition. ”
OK Go recorded two previous albums for EMI’s Capitol Records. Then, at a time when EMI was making cuts to its artist roster, the label picked up OK Go’s option — to the band’s surprise — and funded its new album. But around the time of the album’s release in January, mounting budget pressures at the label put a damper on radio promotion and other marketing efforts, the band says, though some at EMI took a different perspective. According to an industry source, “Radio didn’t like the record. When you’re not getting traction, you have to make a hard decision. Do you want to keep investing in this band?”
In the midst of this mounting tension, OK Go pressed to be cut free from its contract. The label agreed, perhaps because the new album was not selling as the company had hoped. “Of the Colour of the Blue Sky” has sold less than 25,000 copies in the two months since release. The band, however, saw the label’s move as act of good faith. “It’s one of the rare moments in corporate history that I’ve experienced when someone just did something nice. They had the right to step on us, and they didn’t,” said OK Go manager Jamie Kitman.
OK Go takes ownership of its album April 1 (the previous albums still belong to EMI). With that freedom comes the expense of setting up services that Capitol Records had provided, especially distribution. Today, Kitman says he’s been fielding calls from industry veterans — some of whom had been laid off from major labels — looking to work with OK Go’s start-up label. “We’ll be doing some hiring,” he said, “but please don’t send your resumes all at once.”