Contract's End

[ahittle]

So with all this talk of contract fulfillment, does anyone want to hazard a guess about U2's next business plan?

Couple things jump to mind:

1.) Paul McG recently slammed Universal's plan to offer its catalog for free based on an advertisement model.

2.) U2 like to believe that they are riding the threshold of the digital age with their wholesale support of the ipod and their "complete" digital catalog up for sale. (Is that thing still available?)

Are the boys leaving the Interscope/Universal fold? Are they contemplating creating their own megalithic production/distribution force based out of the imposing and sorta evil-looking U2 Tower? Or just another renegotiated fatboy record deal centered around a medium that is certainly dying?

 

[ponkine]

I really hope next time the guys will be smarter and don't sign s*** contractual obligations like "Definitive" Best ofs

U2 should have now the freedom Beatles once have, I mean, to release whatever they want at any time they want

Also U2 should have some nice attitude to the long time fan base instead With all this kind of stinky "Definitive Best Ofs" it seems they just care about brainless posers and don't give a damn about those fans who have been asking for years and years stuff like Lovetown DVD, Red Rocks Complete DVD, The U2 video Anthology DVD, The rematered Catalog with Bonus CD Tracks, The Demos and Outtakes Collection, etc

 

[digsy]

i really like to think that this definitive collection is purely contractual shite - that they're either being forced to do it or have decided themselves to release it fulfil contractual obligations early so they can get out of whatever contract they're currently on.

if that is the case and u2 are currently trying to fulfil and get out of a contract, then fair enough... lets hope the next one has a bit more artistic freedom and integrity in it

 

[xaviMF22]

this is U2 milking the cash cow

 

[Dorian Gray]

Re: Re: Contract's End

Also U2 should have some nice attitude to the long time fan base instead With all this kind of stinky "Definitive Best Ofs" it seems they just care about brainless posers and don't give a damn about those fans who have been asking for years and years stuff like Lovetown DVD, Red Rocks Complete DVD, The U2 video Anthology DVD, The rematered Catalog with Bonus CD Tracks, The Demos and Outtakes Collection, etc

give it time... we'll get most of this over the next years...

Edit: incidently, they treat their fanbase quite well. yes we find reason to quibble, but really, it'd be so easy for them not to give a shit about any of us

 

[Chizip]

i guarantee you if u2 didnt want to be releasing a best of right now, then they wouldnt be

i dont buy the record label is forcing them to do it argument, u2 has all the power in the relationship

 

[BVS]

this is U2 milking the cash cow

Was it milking the cash cow in 97 when they signed the deal or just now when they are fulfilling the contract?

 

[ahittle]

Yeah. But, the point is: what's next?

 

[digsy]

i guarantee you if u2 didnt want to be releasing a best of right now, then they wouldnt be

i dont buy the record label is forcing them to do it argument, u2 has all the power in the relationship

i'm going for benefit of the doubt here (or blindness) and believing in contractual obligations
because if i didn't i would have to believe all this other nasty stuff and i'd rather not cause it makes me sad!

see ignorance = bliss

 

[MrBrau1]

Was it milking the cash cow in 97 when they signed the deal or just now when they are fulfilling the contract?

stop asking smart questions.

These threads are for mindles bitching and moaning.

Interference loves mindles bitching and moaning:

http://forum.interference.com/t166093.html

http://forum.interference.com/t166191.html

 

[phanan]

 

[digsy]

Yeah. But, the point is: what's next?

i dont know... its kind of hard to tell what they're going to do next when we're only really speculating on what they're doing now.

 

[Earnie Shavers]

The first thing I thought when I read the press release about Spiral Frog, which named U2 in the list of potential artists available, was "Fat f*cking chance of that".

If this compilation does indeed end their contract with Universal, I'd expect U2 to sign a new kind of record deal. I think they'll own all their rights themselves, and simply sign the equivalent of distribution deals off to Universal for hardcopies and Apple for digital sales. A subtle shift that takes U2 away from being a Universal artist, and makes Universal (and Apple) simply a U2 service provider. A dream deal for any band in this day and age, and one that very very few could actually pull off. Most artists need the micromanagement of a major record company. U2 The Brand, or U2 The Company, is big enough to look after themselves and dictate simply what they want and need from others. I think they've wanted this for a while. This wouldn't have anything to do with a falling out with Universal or anything, rather simply the best business decision U2 could possible make. They'll make more money though - which worries me a bit.

 

[xaviMF22]

i guarantee you if u2 didnt want to be releasing a best of right now, then they wouldnt be

i dont buy the record label is forcing them to do it argument, u2 has all the power in the relationship

 

[Convoy]

In this new age record companies are easily go under and if U2 can not have to worry about that and release all their material in any media they wish thats more useful to them right?

 

[digsy]

i kind of like the idea of "megalithic production/distribution force based out of the imposing and sorta evil-looking U2 Tower" simply because it means they'd have control of themselves and their releases.
that said i'm not entirely confident in u2s integrity as a business at the moment and maybe they need an external force keeping them in check as such.
the problem would be finding an external force that isn't greedy enough to put out "definitive" money making farces for albums.

 

[Lancemc]

Am I the only person even slightly looking forward to this Best Of album?

 

[Earnie Shavers]

Am I the only person even slightly looking forward to this Best Of album?

There are about 3 or 4 of you.

 

[Lancemc]

There are about 3 or 4 of you.

Good to know.

 

[ponkine]

There are about 3 or 4 of you.

There are a few more ...

the people from U2 team under fake names here

 

[xaviMF22]

There are a few more ...

the people from U2 team under fake names here

ha ha no

 

[Lancemc]

ha ha no

 

[U2DMfan]

I thought this was a, maybe slightly tangential, but interesting bit from an interview with Marc Marot from atU2.com

this is from Spring '06, I forgot to copy the link, but it's atu2, search @U2 original stories, look for the Marc Marot interviews in early 2006.

Over the years, was there ever any talk about doing other collections? A big box set or something like that?

Yeah, it's all there in the contract already. I did that last deal. I did that deal in 1999 -- it was pretty much the last thing I did before I quit. It was a huge re-negotiation, probably one of the biggest in the history of the music business, and under it, there is also the right for Island Records to release a box set at some point in the future. And that will undoubtedly happen.

The deal you're referring to -- is that just the deal that covers the Best Ofs? Because wasn't that contract --

No, it covered the Best Ofs, but it also covered studio albums and box sets and a number of other things. It pretty much takes U2, umm, probably until 2015...if I can work it out.

Okay, 'cause I was gonna ask you about that. I was under the impression that the contract for the Best Ofs was totally separate from the deal that was, I think, in 1993. There was, like, a 6-album deal--

No, no, no -- that effectively -- that was re-negotiated in 1999 to extend it beyond the scope of the 1993 deal and to also capture the Best Ofs.

So, when a U2 fan asks -- you know, people are always worried, "Are they gonna call it quits soon?" and somebody says, "No, they have X amount of albums left." To your understanding, and I know it's been a few years, how many albums are left on the deal?

I don't know, Matt. I would imagine [pauses]...at least another three...I think. And I think there may even -- dependent on how well the two Best Ofs did -- there may even be a right for Island to have a combined Best Of. Because obviously they did the '80s and then they did the '90s.

A combined Best Of combining what kind of stuff?

Everything! Anything from any point in their career. That's certainly not on the schedule. It's not on the agenda for the moment, but there just happens to be a clause somewhere in the contract that allows them to do it.

Oh, okay. Speaking of releases like this, how come U2 has never issued a complete, start-to-finish live concert album? I mean, surely that idea came up, didn't it?

That's the kind of thing that a fan would be more obsessive about than a band. Because they obviously have released Unforgettable Fire [Ed. note: Mr. Marot likely meant to say Under a Blood Red Sky] and they released Rattle and Hum. They would view it as they've released two live albums. But I don't think they've ever needed something...You know, I obviously manage lots of bands now, and one of the things that I still do all these years later is that I keep, on my desk, every record that U2 has ever recorded. And the thing that is just astonishing is if you look at 1980 to 1990, and you look at all the music they released, I don't know when you would think they could possibly get another record out. Because they pretty much released an album a year for 10 years. I think it's eight albums in 10 years, isn't it?

Very much so -- certainly in the '80s.

If you go Boy, October, War, Unforgettable Fire, Under a Blood Red Sky, Joshua Tree, Rattle and Hum, and Wide Awake in America, you've got eight releases there, if I'm right, in 10 years.

That's true. And you're certainly right -- there have been things like Wide Awake in America, but it just comes up every now and then that there is not one full concert, from start to finish, available as an album.

Well, you know what? They record everything. They film everything. Their archive is impeccable. I know it. I've seen it -- impeccable. It'll happen! It's just that I think they've got other things on their agenda, y'know

 

[corianderstem]

Re: Re: Contract's End

Also U2 should have some nice attitude to the long time fan base instead With all this kind of stinky "Definitive Best Ofs" it seems they just care about brainless posers

I'm sorry, but what? Brainless posers? Who would that be - the people who aren't currently huge mega U2 fans?

Every U2 fan needs to start somewhere, even if it's with a hits compilation. Or would you prefer they not gain any new fans?

Yeah, it would be nice to get a small bone thrown at us (meaning the big ol' fans) now and again (dropping a warhorse from the setlist, Red Rocks on DVD, whatever), but please, ponkine, give me just a small break.

The world is not broken into Giant, Die-Hard, Mega U2 Fans vs. Brainless Posers.

 

[Lancemc]

Thanks a lot for that U2DMfan. That's some good insight right there.

 

[Headache in a Suitcase]

So, when a U2 fan asks -- you know, people are always worried, "Are they gonna call it quits soon?" and somebody says, "No, they have X amount of albums left." To your understanding, and I know it's been a few years, how many albums are left on the deal?

I don't know, Matt. I would imagine [pauses]...at least another three...I think. And I think there may even -- dependent on how well the two Best Ofs did -- there may even be a right for Island to have a combined Best Of. Because obviously they did the '80s and then they did the '90s.

A combined Best Of combining what kind of stuff?

Everything! Anything from any point in their career. That's certainly not on the schedule. It's not on the agenda for the moment, but there just happens to be a clause somewhere in the contract that allows them to do it.
[/B]

that's bullshit. u2 are obviously so big that they can ignore signed legal documents. bono is god, after all.

for shame, u2. for shame.

fucking sellouts.

 

[Utoo]

Thanks a lot for that U2DMfan. That's some good insight right there.

Hopefully some people can be a little less harsh now. All of these "super fans" who think they know everything about the band, but apparently haven't seen this info that so many others have.

As for U2 somehow magically being able to alter their contract "if they really didn't want to release this Best Of"...... Yeah, a contract's a contract. Suddenly this band who sucks ass because they're releasing a Best Of..we now love so much to believe that they have the power to just alter contracts because they feel like it and because we think they can. Are we forgetting that in just about every piece of literature about the band, someone comments on how U2 are such an extraordinarily loyal band, so loyal to all the people that got them where they are? Island's among those people. I doubt U2 would diss Island and break a contract like that.

I can't believe people have so little faith in these guys.

 

[Utoo]

that's bullshit. u2 are obviously so big that they can ignore signed legal documents. bono is god, after all.

for shame, u2. for shame.

fucking sellouts.

 

[Canadiens1131]

Re: Re: Contract's End

U2 should have now the freedom Beatles once have, I mean, to release whatever they want at any time they want

Yet the Beatles' former record distributers raped their early catalogues to issue shitty compilation albums out the wazoo.

 

[The Disciple]

As a Prince fan, believe me.... U don't want U2 in complete control of their musical destiny. Not that U2 is as pig-headed as Prince when it comes 2 business, but they need somebody pushing them a bit.