First, here's a speculation on the commitment. Chances are that His and Misses were counted as two, but Swan Song would be counted as one. H/M are packaged and sold separately at full retail prices; seems likely that the new CD's will be packaged together and sold as a two CD set.
Frankly, I'm really surprised that Joni signed a 5 album deal. In her position she could have signed for fewer records if she wanted to. She could even do it one or two records at a time. And she really wouldn't need to fulfill that commitment to end the contract. If the current record is meant to be her last, she can simply stop delivering records after that. Or have her lawyer negotiate her out and request that they treat Swan Song as two, when it would ordinarily be viewed as one. If she was retiring, they would find a way to end it without holding one record over her head. Any desire to license any of her recordings or do any other configurations (box set) would require her approval so it would be in everyone's best interest to have an amicable split. <long contrarian rant> I couldn't disagree more with the idea that Joni should sign with an independent. I don't think an independent can afford her. She would have to significantly step up her participation in promoting her records to offset the lack of budget for advertising and retail marketing, meaning she would have to tour and appear much more than she does now. (Good for us, but can she physically do it? Does she want to?) Also, she would never get the kind of recording or packaging budgets from an independent that she gets from Reprise. If anything her creativity may be stifled because of financial constraints. It certainly isn't being stifled by anyone at the label now. Would anyone at Reprise dare to tell her what kind of record she should make with anything but a suggestive tone (rather than a demanding one) and expect to be listened to? Most people who leave the majors seeking creative freedom have to do so because they have no leverage to get that freedom. Joni has leverage and I'd be stunned if creative control wasn't written into her contracts many years ago. And for as much as she has raged against the machine, she has still participated in it. She made an administration deal for her publishing with Sony in 1997 because she wants the financial benefits of worldwide licensing opportunities for her songs and a global entity to ensure that royalties are paid. Reprise can afford Joni because Warner owns her catalog. So every time they release a record, they have an event to market the catalog again. That's her bread and butter - it leads to more licensing income for her songs. It's very difficult to coordinate a catalog campaign when the dollars for the new release are being spent somewhere else by a different company. The impact is diminished. Warner Music can also offer her something that an independent cannot - worldwide distribution. There's a reason why people like Clapton, Springsteen, JT and Dylan are all still with majors and will remain so. They are internationally recognized music icons. So is Joni. (Also hard to imagine her ego standing for a deal that is perceived to be less than her contemporaries.) And I'd be stunned if Joni is remotely interested in starting her own label. She doesn't even fund her own recordings out of her own pocket. Highly unlikely she wants to foot the bill for marketing them as well. And the only way she can get a deal for a label of her own, where someone else will pay the bills, is if she can take her catalog with her. She owns her publishing, but don't know if she has reversion rights for her masters. As much as she complains about the biz, she hasn't done anything yet to show that she is interested or cares about doing it another way - for herself or for anyone else. </long contrarian rant> B n.p.: Newsworld International ------------------------------ Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous.
