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/ News

The Great Label Switch-Off

May 11, 2010 By Mike Duquette 2 Comments

Last night, Vintage Vinyl News reported a story that could probably only happen in today's music industry: according to the Times of London, Queen is leaving their longtime label EMI for Universal later in the year.

As of right now, a few details about the rumored switch remain unclear. For starters, the article never definitively says whether the band's voluminous back catalogue is moving with the members of Queen. Sure, they recorded one not-so-good LP with Paul Rodgers a year or two ago, but since the death of lead singer Freddie Mercury in 1991, the band's output has almost entirely consisted of back catalogue sets. The article also fails to mention whether or not this move will apply to the United States, where Disney's Hollywood Records has control of the Queen catalogue.

But until those questions are answered, I thought this might make for an interesting question to pose to readers: let's say a venerable catalogue act of your choice decides to do what Queen might do (and Paul McCartney has done) and remove their catalogue from their label's control. Let's further say that the act in question lets you pick which catalogue label they choose to affiliate with, in the hopes of producing quality reissue/box set/compilation products.

Who would you pick? The question seems odd, but it is an odd time for the industry anyway, and fans of reissues have the smarts to know what label is putting out quality product (and who among their favorite artists could benefit from that quality).

Categories: News Tags: Open Forum, Paul McCartney, Queen

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Mike Duquette

Mike Duquette (Founder) was fascinated with catalog music ever since he was a teenager. A 2009 graduate of Seton Hall University with a B.A. in journalism, Mike paired his profession with his passion through The Second Disc, one of the first sites to focus on all reissue labels great and small. His passion for reissues turned into a career, holding positions at Legacy Recordings and Rhino Records and contributing to Allmusic, Discogs, City Pages, Ultimate Classic Rock and Mondo Records, for whom he penned liner notes for his favorite piece of music: John Williams' Oscar-winning score to 'E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial.' Born and raised in New Jersey, Mike lives in Astoria, Queens with his wife, a cat named Ravioli, twin daughters and a large yet tasteful collection of music.

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Comments

  1. Robert Altman says

    May 12, 2010 at 12:02 am

    I'd say Rhino, but they've blundered quite a few releases in the past few years (The Replacements reissues, the New Order reissues, the Twisted Sister Deluxe Edition, most recently the Pantera vinyl reissues.)Maybe Hip-0 or UME or whatever Universal's reissue arm is?

    Reply
  2. Mike Duquette says

    May 12, 2010 at 12:21 am

    I'd love to give Rhino first right of refusal for any Prince remasters, but I'm at the point where I'll take ANYONE to revisit his catalogue. He's got to be one of the most influential acts with the least catalogue action going on.

    Reply

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