Mariah teases "Epic" label move
Commercially, the last few years have seen songbird Mariah Carey's wings clipped. The diva's newer releases has struggled to match the success of 2005's triumphant chart comeback "The Emancipation of Mimi", with her most recent effort "Memoirs of an Imperfect Angel" tanking quite terribly in 2009.
However, it appears the new mother is ready to breathe new life into her career with a potential label move. Our good friends over at Mariah Daily spotted the following exchange between the Island star and former boss LA Reid, who now heads up Epic over at rival label Sony:
Mariah Carey: "Five million followers and we haven't even scratched the surface of what's about to happen. Epic surprise coming up!" LA Reid: "Mariah Carey. Epic surprise? Nice wording Mimi! Missing you."
Could the "We Belong Together" singer be singing a similar tune to her one-time right hand man? We wouldn't be surprised. After all, who wouldn't want to reunite with the force who brought you back from the brink of irrelevancy. The force who, for a period in time, made you bigger than you were before?
Saying that, any one who knows Industry 101, would know it isn't simply a case of clicking fingers and switching labels. Indeed, it's common knowledge ol' Mimi owed one more original album to Island. Hence, for any such Epic move to occur, LA and his new team would essentially have to "buy-out" the remainder of Mariah's contract (which, despite her lack of success in recent memory, would be quite costly).
An interesting point in that if successful, it arguably says something about Island's belief (or lack-thereof) in Mariah's palatability to the current music market. I mean, LA is largely the entity behind Rihanna's success, yet you don't see Ms. Fenty jumping ship. Why? Because Def Jam wouldn't dream of letting Ms. Fenty go. Not at this point of her career. No. Struggle as she may to sell actual albums, that little model brings in the $$$ for the label in the form of her 360 deal (see: endorsements). Put simply, if Mimi is in the midst of an Epic move, it suggests Island may not see her commercial worth on their roster anymore.
Wherever Mimi pops up next, she simply needs to ensure she brings "it". Because, on the basis of her name alone, she's always received top billing at what ever label she calls home. It's oft her material that's let her down with the projects that tanked (see: "Charmbracelet", "Glitter", "Memoirs"). It'll be interesting to see how this one plays out. (That Grape Juice)
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