The penthouse suites and room temperature-attendants demanded by pop divas are no longer a formula for success in an industry hit by downloading.
After a series of flopped albums and cancelled record deals, star singers are in the process of being “rebranded” by an American record mogul who says they have to wake up to the new harsh realities.
Antonio “L. A.” Reid, boss of Island Def Jam, said: “We have to operate as if we’re spending money from our own bank accounts instead of operating like there is some endless well.”
Ominously for the divas, Reid told Music Week: “It’s good business to know that for every dime we spend, we are looking for a return.”
The Grammy Award winner’s warning follows upheaval at EMI, where Guy Hands, the financier who bought the company for £3.2 billion, told stars that the days of multimillion-pound advances were over.
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Robbie Williams promptly went “on strike”, Radiohead walked out and the Rolling Stones took their latest album to Universal Music, parent company of Island Def Jam. EMI executives shudder at the mention of Mariah Carey, who was given an $82 million (£41.9 million) deal in 2001 but was rapidly paid off with $28 million.
Carey, 37, who has sold 150 million records, will soon release a “sexed-up” single called Touch My Body. But the star, who once rolled up in Shanghai with four cars full of luggage, including 350 pairs of shoes, may not have grasped the bean counters’ message. Last month she summoned Q magazine to the bedroom of her $3,000-a-night hotel suite overlooking Manhattan and said: “I’ve never done one divaish thing in my life.”
Janet Jackson, 41, famed for her lavish videos and high-tempo dance routines, never recovered from her “wardrobe malfunction” at the Super Bowl in 2004. She quit EMI in 2006 after her album Y.O. sold only 12,000 copies in Britain. Appropriately, after shedding the 60lb she gained for a film role, Jackson’s comeback album is called Discipline.
If the day of the diva is over, it does not bode well for Jennifer Lopez. The singer’s notorious demands have required rooms to be redecorated at a moment’s notice. Brave, her latest album, was her lowest seller despite substantial investment by SonyBMG.
Reid says that he can put Carey and Jackson back at the top as “talent always wins in the end”. The Emancipation of Mimi, Carey’s successful album for Universal from 2005, helped to reestablish her with fans.
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Reid told Music Week: “Mariah’s a true songwriter.
With Janet, we spend more time with the producers and writers finding ideas that appeal to herand that she can get into. Whatever it takes, I’ll do it.”
Stars and their wish lists
Mariah Carey
$3,000-a-night suite 4600 at Mandarin Oriental Hotel, New York.
Cristal champagne.
New lavatory seat, gold taps and French mineral water for bathing.
Box of bendy straws.
Attendant to dispose of used chewing gum.
Tea service for eight.
Specified brand of honey.
Two air purifiers.
Puppy.
Kittens
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Jennifer Lopez
White flowers.
White tablecloths.
White curtains.
White candles.
White couches.
Low-watt light bulbs.
Coffee to be stirred anticlockwise.
Water prepared through multi-filter, reverse-osmosis system.
Egyptian cotton sheets with thread count not less than 250.
Personal chefs to prepare handmade ravioli.
Skittles
Janet Jackson
Chaise longue.
Ten black roses.
Marmite.
Male catering staff.
Twenty black hand towels.
Twenty 5in candles.
Vanilla-flavoured soya milk.
Fijian spring water cooled to correct temperature
Beyonc?
Room temperature of 25C.
Pepsi products only.
Honey Nut Cheerios.
Ginger root.
Two-person love seat.
Barbra Streisand
Rose petals in lavatory
Madonna
A new lavatory seat.
25 cases of kabbalah water
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Lily Allen
Bottle of Jack Daniel’s whiskey.
Four bottles of champagne.
Twelve packets of Monster Munch (pickled onion flavour).
Puppy (nighttime only)
Sir Elton John
74 towels.
Flowers (no carnations, chrysanthemums, lilies or daisies)
Sources: The Little Red Riders Book. Times database