The worldwide contract covers three new albums and the rights to release the band's valuable catalog of music recorded since 1971 for about five years, according to people with knowledge of the negotiations who were not authorized to speak about them publicly. The contract calls for an advance of $15 million and brings the Rolling Stones' entire output under Universal's roof, since the company had already distributed the band's pre-1971 music through the Abkco label.
EMI will retain the band's lucrative publishing rights. “Universal are forward thinking, creative and hands-on music people," the band said in a statement issued by Universal. “We really look forward to working with them."
The Rolling Stones, whose contract with EMI was up for renewal this year, are the latest in a string of high-profile acts to depart the label since it was bought by the private equity firm Terra Firma last year for about $6.4 billion. Radiohead released its latest album through its own Web site last October, and Paul McCartney left for a label partly owned by Starbucks after complaining publicly about EMI's new leadership.
Among industry executives and analysts, the move was seen as a significant loss for EMI, which has been struggling with financial losses in recent years. EMI is the smallest of the four major labels; Universal, a unit of Vivendi, is the largest. “It certainly is a blow to EMI in the sense that they have a very strong catalog," said Russ Crupnick, a senior analyst at the NPD Group, a market research firm. “In the short term they seem to be counting on that catalog to help transform the company."
