The Agency Group’s Neil Warnock has spoken out over record labels signing 360 deals with young artists, deeming them ‘immoral’.
In an interview with The Independent, the CEO said that “No company should own everything that an artist does," and that the new generation of DIY musicians will “force labels to offer a different menu of services.”
Warnock said: "The big entertainment companies may even stop recording and will be forced to offer a different menu of services; marketing for one artist, maybe distribution for another, and so on. They can't do it all anymore."
However, according to Warnock, the marketing of Adele was a prime example of where labels can get it right. He said: "XL and Sony handled Adele brilliantly. They knew what they were doing. If you sell one million CDs, that's the time to spend more on marketing because it's easy to turn one million sales into 10 million.
"Too many record labels are run by accountants who want the money they have spent on artists paid back too quickly – so they pull out too early. It takes seven albums for most artists to develop their potential."
Warnock’s career in the music industry spans over five decades and has seen him work with a number of big named musicians including the Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and Michael Jackson.
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