New Order Laid Off by Warner US ???

There is already another topic on the same thing...

Just go here...

And THAT is the pitchfork article

Warner Begins Slashing Roster, Stereolab Get Cut It was the file-sharing again then, yes? Cory D. Byrom reports: Various Warner Bros. recording artists are huddling together, making small talk, and nervously biting their nails as the label, which recently let go more than 1,000 employees, has begun announcing which bands are to be cut from their roster. Many of the bands that will be released are those who existed on the east-coast-based Atlantic and Elektra labels, which are being consolidated as a part of a massive reorganization at Warner Bros. The reorganization comes as a result of a private group of investors, including former Universal mogul Edgar Bronfman, Jr., purchasing the label from Time Warner back in February. Several bands have already been let go, and it is estimated that nearly half of the 170-act roster will be given pink slips and be sent on their way.

One notable early casualty is Stereolab. According to the band's manager, Martin Pike, Stereolab was told that their "services are going to be dispensed with." Stereolab had been on Elektra since 1993, but apparently their consistent output and relatively steady popularity in the indie world wasn't enough to save them. Stereolab's most recent album, Margarine Eclipse, was issued earlier this year, "moving" only 40,000 "units," a very low output by major label standards.

The label is remaining fairly tight-lipped about who's staying and who's going, but Lyor Cohen, the label's U.S. chief executive, has outlined a vague definition of what will allow an act to remain on the roster, saying, "The tipping point of whether an artist remains is the company's passion to market and promote them. Everyone that remains we're going to be insanely passionate about." Which we must take to mean that you can expect to see more of The Darkness than you ever dreamed, and possibly a whole lot less of Built to Spill-- the justice, of course, being that these bands will likely make more money on indies anyway.

Luckily, a few of the indie bands at Warner Bros. and its various subsidiaries have a high standing with the label that is keeping them safe for the moment. Guster, for example, are currently in the option phase of their contract, which means that the label could've chosen to drop them if they wanted. In January, however, only six months after the release of Keep It Together, the option was picked up for another album, securing their place with the entertainment giant. According to Nettwerk Management spokesperson Dalton Sim, although Guster, like labelmates The Flaming Lips, are not selling millions of albums, they have "an active fanbase that continues to develop."

Sim commented that Guster has been very happy with the label, which is apparently realistic about who is and who isn't radio-hit material, stating, "I can only say that our experience with Warner/Reprise has been a very good one." He went on to comment, "If they don't think the band has a radio song, they take that money and spend it elsewhere." So it makes sense that cutting a band like Third Eye Blind-- who was a radio powerhouse in the past but stalled at the starting line with their most recent release-- would be an easy decision, as their popularity was rooted in big radio singles.

An interesting footnote is that everyone's favorite angry 45-year-olds, Metallica, seemingly strong-armed their way onto Warner Bros. for their next album. Like Stereolab, Metallica had been on Elektra, but chose to leave when the announcement was made that the label was being dissolved into Atlantic. The story goes that Metallica informed Bronfman and Cohen that they would not deliver the final record in their Elektra contract unless they were allowed to move seamlessly to Warner. On the surface, this seems like a sound business decision by Warner Bros., as Metallica has been a pretty sure bet financially for the last 15 years or so, but consider that Metallica's sales peaked with 1991's self-titled release, and have been on a steady decline ever since. Their most recent disaster, St. Anger, for example, has sold fewer copies than any album they've released since 1986.

As the cuts slowly leak out, here's a partial selection of the massive artist roster that, as members of the rather extended Warner family, could potentially find themselves homeless: Green Day, The Stratford 4, Dream Theater, Depeche Mode, New Order, Jewel, Morcheeba, Deftones, Built to Spill, The Donnas, Barenaked Ladies, Junior Senior, The Stills, Mandy Moore. Mandy Moore, people! That girl won't survive on the street!

Is this happening for sure? Or just rumour? If so it's a bit of a shame. As a British fan it won't really affect me but I do feel sorry for our American mates :( Mind you, once the band release new material, it'll be easily available internationally via places like Amazon etc. for a few extra dollars delivery. I wouldn't fret.

I think it goes without saying the major labels suck big time especially BMG (ignorant wankers automatically for employing Simon Trowel) They've handled the online music scene very badly, getting the RIAA to bring lawsuits against 12 year olds etc. They're desperate, they've messed up and are hemorrhaging cash fast, so bands who aren't making easy money for them are top of the list to be dropped, including our beloved NO it would seem. This may sound blatantly wide-eyed and ideological, but it was never even remotely about art or musical revolution with these idiots, Pop Idol is the definitive proof of that. It's just an assembly line for the vacuous and inane, whilst guaranteeing easy money from mostly sycophantic 12 year old girls, and trendy Will Young clones. The people who run it make no differentiation from nurturing talent and selling a quality album from flogging a second hand TV set to you.

However, I think everyone appreciates the record industry is an "industry" that won't run on good intentions or great music alone. It needs to make money to survive, but they have never been able to strike the correct balance between the product you get and a fair price. Go into HMV, some regular CD albums are 17-18 quid which is absolutely outrageous, similarly with certain CD singles, some going for £6-7.

I was after a copy of UNKLE's "Never Never Land" album and when I saw the £16.99 price tag on the case there was just no way I was buying it. I'm a bloody student too! I've always believed if ALL CD prices drop to 8-9 quid the industry's profitability and sales will improve. We all want to support our artists, and pay legally for music, but the record industry has been ripping the public off for years and I'm glad they're getting f*cked over money-wise. Now they know how their customers feel.

I'm not really worried about New Order, this move by Warners will not really affect them in other countries and they've been around long enough to survive. They survived the collapse of Factory intact and they will survive these wankers dropping their US distribution.

Viva MP3!

Ally.

Originally posted by Mick Aneworderfan Anyway being dropped and moving to an indie would be still better than staying and having the new album treated similarly to The Other Two's lost masterpiece, Superhighways...

I do remember London's pathetic promotion for Superhighways. The single was released very quietly at full price (£5), and the album was about £17 (and they wonder why people download albums) I wouldn't call SH a "masterpiece" :P I think You Can Fly dated the second the master tapes left the studio, but the rest of the album was very slickly produced with pleasing enough tunes and I love the artwork. It did deserve regular album promotion, but let's face it, O2 don't gig, and even an in-store signing session would've been pushing it :) New Order wouldn't give a toss about Warners ending their distribution, not at this stage in their career. Perhaps they could even sign to Moz's new Attack label! Just imagine the Mozzer as CEO listening to the first promo CDs of the next New Order single "Synthesisers?! Silly boys" :D New Order shift more than enough albums and have a very loyal fanbase, they will always have an audience to cater to no matter what.

But realistically they'll never sell as much as the shit coming out of the States like Justin "dancing gimp" Timberlake or Avril Lasangne and rightly so, I'd think something was up if the Order suddenly appealed to *everyone*.

Ally.

Apparently I pulled a little too quickly on the trigger for the main news of this site.

I corrected it, New Order are on the "rumour" list... nothing confirmed, apparently Warner Canada denied. (It's not US though, but nobody answers to email in Warner US these days)