Major label EMI plans to support an as-yet-unnamed smaller subsidiary, part of talent management company the Firm, which will try an "experimental" approach to artist-label relations. According to the EMI website, this "artist-empowering" approach will eschew the former pay-advance system in favor of a more direct partnership between the label and musicians. That is, instead of getting big bucks at the beginning and essentially becoming indebted to the label, artists will start with less money yet split profits instead of relying on royalties. EMI says that similar deals have been in place for Korn and Ice Cube, and that the new label has already signed Mandy Moore and Army Of Anyone (featuring former members of the Stone Temple Pilots and Filter). The Firm CEO Jeff Kwatinetz told EMI, "Instead of whining about the difficulties plaguing today's artists, [the artists] are planning for the future." Because, you know, a record label has never whined about album sales.
