Linkin Park Go On Strike!

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US band Linkin Park wants to end its contract with music giant Warner Music because it does not feel the firm will sufficiently promote their next album.
The rock band said Warner Music Group's "diminished resources" will leave it "unable to compete in today's global music marketplace".
Linkin Park said it was responsible for 10% of the firm's music sales. It is due to record four more Warner albums.
The music firm said the "inflammatory" threat was a "negotiating tactic".
'Increasingly concerned'
The band, which blended rap and rock on hit albums such as Hybrid Theory and Meteora, said it would not continue with plans to record its next Warner Music Group (WMG) album, due in 2006.
"Linkin Park has become increasingly concerned that WMG's diminished resources will leave it unable to compete in today's global music marketplace, resulting in a failure to live up to WMG's fiduciary responsibility to market and promote Linkin Park," the band's management company said.
It added that Linkin Park had become concerned about WMG's ability to promote the band due to cost-cutting efforts at the music company.
Linkin Park's decision to postpone its next album and increase its reliance upon touring, merchandise and endorsements would be "disastrous" for WMG, its managers said.
However the company said the band's contribution to WMG profits had been overstated, saying Linkin Park albums accounted for around 3% of the company's US sales in the last five years.
"While Linkin Park's talent is without question, the band's management is using fictitious numbers and making baseless charges and inflammatory threats in what is clearly a negotiating tactic," a WMG spokesman said.

"Warner Bros Records has made significant investments in Linkin Park, and they have always been compensated generously for their outstanding worldwide success."

― Rambo, Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:17 (eighteen years ago) link

From http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4507903.stm

― Rambo, Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:18 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh lord. Boo hoo, Linkin Park!

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:20 (eighteen years ago) link

well i never.

the boys bite.

they'll start swearing next.

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:23 (eighteen years ago) link

I understand it as a negotiating tactic and they're certainly successful enough to demand their label's attention but daaaamn what level are you trying to reach on if WARNER MUSIC can't let you "compete"?

Warner Music refused to put out any more Linkin Park material until they wrote a song that didn't deal with an adolescent's frustration with self or others, believing their "lyrical monomania" would leave them "unable to compete" in the global marketplace.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:37 (eighteen years ago) link

Gotta love lawyers.

Looking down the road, though, personally I'd think they're thinking something like "Why not just set ourselves up to do a deal with Apple directly?" Or something similar, depending on how things start shaking out. I'd be doing that if I were at their level.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:40 (eighteen years ago) link

3%!!!!! thats a lot for one band?

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:41 (eighteen years ago) link

They are on some next level shit, I'll admit.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:41 (eighteen years ago) link

Yeah, even at 3% that's pretty astonishing for a newer band without much back catalog.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:42 (eighteen years ago) link

no wonder they want off! take 3% off a huge corporation and you're laughing. and they're...not

― charltonlido (gareth), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:44 (eighteen years ago) link

weren't Warner Music separated from Time Warner recently or something? That might explain how they could make such a claim.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:45 (eighteen years ago) link

yup, here we go. from forbes:

A group of private investors led by Edgar Bronfman Jr. bought Warner Music Group for $2.6 billion from Time Warner (nyse: TWX - news - people ) last year. Warner Music, which is set to go public, will pay a $141.5 million cash dividend to Bronfman, his co-owners and 10 top executives. The dividend will be paid ahead of the IPO.

So they aren't saying 3% of the company that puts out Batman movies

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:47 (eighteen years ago) link

not a lot of back catalogue ..

but damn they have milked their 2 album oeuvre to seriously max effect

- the remix album (which is pretty damn fine), live cd/dvd, jay-z mashup cashin.

which aint bad considering both albums proper hardly touch on the 40 minute level.

― mark e (mark e), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:48 (eighteen years ago) link

yeah four of the five singles off Meteora (a ten song album!) hit no. 1 on the Modern Rock chart, the other hit no. 2. Hybrid Theory was the best selling album of its year. They're huge.

― miccio (miccio), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:51 (eighteen years ago) link

Oh I'm not questioning how popular they are! That goes without saying.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:53 (eighteen years ago) link

I don't know exact numbers, but I think Hybrid Theory shipped at least 8 million, and I'm guessing Meteora shipped at least half that, & the remix album (& the Jay-Z mashup?) went platinum (again, AT LEAST), so, yeah, that's a lot of stuff to sell over the course of 4 years.

[x-post; not to prove a point - just throwing out more numbers]

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 13:55 (eighteen years ago) link

"Linkin Park has become increasingly concerned that WMG's diminished resources will leave it unable to compete in today's global music marketplace, resulting in a failure to live up to WMG's fiduciary responsibility to market and promote Linkin Park," they forgot to add, BOYYYYYYYYY!

― Huk-L, Tuesday, 3 May 2005 14:02 (eighteen years ago) link

Is Terrell Owens in that band?

― gspm (gspm), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 14:34 (eighteen years ago) link

"Why not just set ourselves up to do a deal with Apple directly?"

Interestingly, only the Jay-Z team-up stuff is available on iTunes.

― Matthew C Perpetua (inca), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 16:07 (eighteen years ago) link

Drudge had an article up about this yesterday. It said something about the WMA IPO that brought in 750 million, about 1% of which they were going to commit to artists. I couldnt tell if that 1% was to A&R or paying people they have deals with directly. The whole IPO is a big part of this spat.

― Actor Sizemore fails drug test with fake penis (jingleberries), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 16:17 (eighteen years ago) link

They stink.

― Alex in NYC (vassifer), Tuesday, 3 May 2005 16:48 (eighteen years ago) link

Funny how the last Linkin Park record was launched with maxium (and fascinating) levels of security, and now they're talking about giving the new one away for free!

― Josh in Chicago (Josh in Chicago), Wednesday, 4 May 2005 15:36 (eighteen years ago) link

Follow up in todays New York Times:
In six years together, the musicians in the rap-rock band Linkin Park have written song after song about angst, rage and self-reliance. So perhaps it is not hard to imagine their shock at being asked by the Warner Music Group, their record company, to play a gig at the New York Stock Exchange to celebrate Warner's planned $750 million initial public stock offering.

The request, members of the band say, galvanized their anger at the corporation, which has cut roughly $250 million in costs as part of a reorganization before its offering, mainly with layoffs and consolidation. The group says concerns that the public offering would reward investors while shortchanging the company and its artists led the band to ask to be released from its record contract last week.

The invitation to play at the stock exchange "just exemplifies how out of touch the ownership of the Warner Music Group is with our band," said Brad Delson, the group's guitarist and primary spokesman, in his first interview since the Grammy-winning band issued its demand in a written statement that criticized the company. "It doesn't make any sense to us why we would play a show at the New York Stock Exchange. I don't know what was going through their minds."

Linkin Park, which Edgar Bronfman Jr., the chairman of Warner Music, has described as "the biggest rock band in the world," says it is researching how it might legally sever its contract with Warner, which calls for the band to deliver four more albums. The band has released two full-length albums and three additional recordings through Warner, selling an estimated 17.9 million copies in the United States alone, according to Nielsen SoundScan. But the musicians say cutbacks at Warner have hurt the company's ability to market future Linkin Park recordings.

― john'n'chicago, Monday, 9 May 2005 13:44 (eighteen years ago) link

Linkin Park, which Edgar Bronfman Jr., the chairman of Warner Music, has described as "the biggest rock band in the world,"

I like how that is seen as an informed judgment.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Monday, 9 May 2005 13:46 (eighteen years ago) link

actually, the band could use that bronfman quote to it's advantage!

Ladies and gentlemen of the court, exhibit one in "...how out of touch the ownership of the Warner Music Group is with our band."

― john'n'chicago, Monday, 9 May 2005 13:48 (eighteen years ago) link

Without caring that much about the band, and even less about the band's music, this is really exciting news. Granted, it's really just entertainment business as usual.. but this is a major butting-heads between popular artist/band and major label that I've been somewhat expecting to see more of... and I admit being excited to see it now.

I'm not a "major labels suck" kinda guy, but I'm definitely a "major labels better be WAKING THE FUCK UP, PARTY'S OVER, OOPS OUTTA TIME" kinda guy, completely.

― donut debonair (donut), Monday, 9 May 2005 17:46 (eighteen years ago) link

OK, so they're responsible for between 3 and 10% of WMG sales. How are Warner NOT going to promote their records? It's not like they're some bunch of flops whose 2nd album's gonna be released and left to die, just to honour a contract.

― Ben Dot (1977), Monday, 9 May 2005 22:22 (eighteen years ago) link

How are Warner NOT going to promote their records? It's not like they're some bunch of flops whose 2nd album's gonna be released and left to die, just to honour a contract.

Stupider has happened.

― donut debonair (donut), Monday, 9 May 2005 23:37 (eighteen years ago) link

This is just so that they can pull a Michael Jackson if their next album tanks. They're on thin ice and they know it - they can only go down from here, better lay the blame on your label beforehand. Nobody has managed to build a lasting chart career by releasing the same record over and over again (OK, except for Scooter).

― Siegbran (eofor), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 11:43 (eighteen years ago) link

and Muse

― $V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 12:15 (eighteen years ago) link

This makes me want to like Linkin Park.

They are pretty much in control right now; they're on top. Everyone is looking to them.

― Railroad one, railroad two, Tuesday, 10 May 2005 12:23 (eighteen years ago) link

They are also douchebags on a one-way trolley to Hasbeenburg.

― Huk-L, Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:44 (eighteen years ago) link

Warner Music shares have failed to hit the right note on their initial public offering (IPO), falling more than 7% to $15.75 (£8.40) on their New York debut.
The offering raised $554m for Warner, whose artists include Madonna. But it fell short of its $750m target.
Investors, led by former Warner Music boss Edgar Bronfman, bought the firm in 2004 from Time Warner for $2.6bn.
This time, shares were priced at $17, well below the $22-24 IPO range which Warner Music initially wanted.
The world's fourth-largest music company made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday but its shares quickly dipped below the $17 offer price.
Tough market
Warner Music plans to use the cash raised from its IPO to reduce its debt, which currently stands at $2.5bn.

GLOBAL MUSIC SHARE
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Sony BMG - 25.1%
Universal - 23.5%
EMI - 13.4%
Warner - 12.7%
Independents - 25.3%
Source: IFPI figures for 2003
The IPO was timed to coincide with some upbeat news for the music industry, with data from researchers Nielsen Soundscan showing a small rise in US album sales during 2004.
The world's major music companies have been struggling to cope with the effects of CD piracy, increased competition and illegal internet downloads.
However, Warner's IPO has been criticised by some analysts for the high valuation underwriters gave to it.
Lower range
Warner Music's share offer comes at a sluggish time for the US IPO market, with many deals pricing at the lower end of expectations.
Last week, shares in investment bank Lazard fell 4% in its market debut after initially pricing at the bottom end of its estimated range.
Other artists in the Warner stable include The Darkness, Green Day, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Linkin Park.
Recorded music accounts for 83% of the company's revenue, and music publishing for 17%.

Earlier this month, Linkin Park demanded to end the band's contract with Warner, saying the firm's "diminished resources" would leave it "unable to compete in today's global music marketplace".

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4535983.stm

― Rambo, Thursday, 12 May 2005 03:30 (eighteen years ago) link

so linkin park sell approx. 0.381% of albums in the world, i.e. every 262nd album is a linkin park album.

― chris andrews (fraew), Thursday, 12 May 2005 03:43 (eighteen years ago) link

fifteen years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8GY2cNTuEc

― m0stlyClean, Monday, 3 May 2021 23:56 (two years ago) link

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