Coldplay News

EMI's new owner Terra Firma has told executives at the music group they will receive no bonuses unless the music company hits a £150m underlying earnings target by next June.   The private equity giant has also imposed a hiring freeze and told EMI to slash its £250m marketing and promotions spend by more than 10pc between now and the end of June.   Terra Firma has also asked EMI to present a sample of around a dozen different artists - from international stars such as Robbie Williams, Coldplay a

EMI's attempts to secure a licensing deal with rivals fell apart yesterday, heaping pressure on the struggling label as it seeks to raise £120m in less than two months or face being seized by its creditors. More on this is at the Coldplay forum here [thanks coldplayisawesome]   The music group, whose artists include Coldplay, Lily Allen and Robbie Williams, had been locked in separate negotiations over the past week to offer Universal Music Group and Sony Music distribution rights for its artist

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- EMI, one of the world's largest record companies, is considering turning over its distribution, sales and marketing operations in the United States to a rival in an attempt to cut its extensive losses, music industry sources said Friday.   Three industry sources told Fortune that the storied British company - whose catalog includes the Beatles, the Beach Boys and Coldplay - is talking to Warner Music (WMG), SonyBMG (SME) and Universal Music Group about assuming these functi

InMotion’s airport-based Media Hotspot kiosks in US will feature key EMI Music albums and singles for sampling and purchase, report Reuters.   New York, NY.– Under an agreement between EMI Music and InMotion Entertainment, music fans can now buy and download music directly to portable devices at major US airports. InMotion, the US’s largest airport-based electronics and entertainment retailer, will now make a selection of EMI Music’s key current and catalog albums and singles available for consu

EMI Group, as part of a larger effort to support peer-to-peer networks that allow the sharing of licensed music files, has agreed to share its digital library with P2P start-up Mashboxx.   The record label, whose 1000-plus artists include Janet Jackson, Gorillaz, the Rolling Stones and Coldplay, is not the first to license its content for use on Mashboxx. According to founder Wayne Rosso, the New York-based Mashboxx--currently readying for a beta test launch--already has deals with Sony BMG and

An EMI press release has confirmed some of the details of Coldplay's forthcoming album. Their press release reads as follows:   Coldplay release their fourth album Viva La Vida or, to give it its full title, Viva La Vida or Death And All His Friends on Parlophone Records on June 16. The album comprises 10 brand new tracks, recorded in London, Barcelona and New York with producers Brian Eno and Markus Dravs. The track listing is:   1. Life In Technicolor 2. Cemeteries Of London 3. Lost! 4. 42 5.

Coldplay did EMI shareholders an unintended favour yesterday after the music company reported improved revenues and profits at its recorded music division. EMI issued a profit warning in February, and saw £300m wiped off its market value, after Coldplay delayed completion of its third album, X&Y. Chris Martin, lead singer of the group, later dismissed his paymasters' troubles, describing shareholders as "the greatest evil in this modern world".   EMI made shareholders happier yesterday wit

Shares in EMI Group Plc declined after the lead singer of the band Coldplay said fans won't see them for a "long time.'' The stock recovered most of the loss after EMI said the band was "not quitting.''   Coldplay picked up two honours at last night's Brit Awards, the U.K.'s answer to the Grammy Awards, and singer Chris Martin suggested from the podium that the group would lay low.   "You won't see us for a long time,'' he said. "We mean it.'' He also said, "People are fed up with us -- and so

Music giant EMI offered investors hope today that a shortfall in annual profits would not be as bad as originally feared.   EMI warned in February that profits would drop by 15 per cent to £138 million after key album releases from Coldplay and Gorillaz were delayed until spring, but said it now believes the annual figure will be closer to £141 million.   In its final update before the release of its full-year results next month, EMI said the slowdown in sales at its recorded music division was

EMI, the global music group, is axing 1500 jobs at its EMI Music division as it strives to hit an annual cost-saving target of £50 million.   The shrinkage represents about 20 per cent of the unit’s workforce with most of the redundancies stemming from the company’s decision to outsource manufacturing of its CDs and DVDs in Europe and the United States to third-party contractors.About 900 of the job cuts will arise from the closure of plants in Uden, Holland and Illinois, America, with the shak

EMI begins the roll-out of the media campaign for the new album this week, as the major gears up for the first significant release under its new A&R structure.   EMI will hold listening sessions for Viva La Vida this coming Wednesday and Thursday at Abbey Road Studios for journalists from long-lead publications. The listening sessions follow the announcement last week of a new UK A&R structure in which managing directors Miles Leonard and Ferdy Unger-Hamilton were promoted to president o

Music firm overhauls information systems to keep up with soaring digital sales   EMI Music last month posted a 13 per cent rise in pre-tax profits, partly attributed to a doubling of digital music sales.   The announcement is further evidence that the music industry is in the throes of a digital revolution, with downloads increasing and sales of recorded music declining. Technology is a key part of strategies intended to capitalise on the digital market while combating a growth in piracy.EMI has

Record company EMI Group plans to provide content for German media giant Bertelsmann's new Internet platform for downloading and sharing music, movies and games, it said on Friday.   EMI signed the first pan-European deal with arvato mobile, a unit of Bertelsmann's services and technology arm arvato, to offer end customers access to 300,000 music tracks from artists including Coldplay [pictured] and Norah Jones.   The software platform, called GNAB, allows makers and distributors of music, games

Rumours have been flying about recently regarding the release date for Coldplay's follow up album to X&Y.   A source close to EMI, Coldplay's record company, said the fourth album will in all probability be on the shelves around February to March 2008.   In addition, while as yet unconfirmed, a special DVD containing extracts of the recent Latin America Tour of early 2007, which included Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico, may be released simultaneously. This would explain the 'Part I' unre

Coldplay's hotly-anticipated new album has been illegally put on the internet a week before its UK and US release.   But record company EMI - whose profits fell after X&Y was delayed - said it was "kind of Ok" with the leak and insisted it would not wreck sales. The leak took place on Monday, the day copies were sent to UK radio stations and the day before it went on sale in Japan, its first country of release. "I'm not saying we condone it but I'm not saying it's a disaster," EMI said.   A

Looking at the possibility of starting fiscal year 2009 with a bang, EMI will release Coldplay's fourth album, "Viva La Vida," in the third week of June, less than a month after the Brit conglom releases year-end financials that are expected to reveal the costs of its massive restructuring.   Hits have been few and far between for EMI in Guy Hands' rookie season and the company's current representatives in the top 50 are a Trace Adkins hits compilation and the B-52's first album in 16 years. T

EMI has seen download music sales rise by almost 600% in the six months to the end of September, and says they are becoming a major part of its business. Analysts said by 2009 digital music and publishing should account for about a quarter of total turnover at the home to Kylie Minogue and Norah Jones.   CDs, however, still account for most of EMI's turnover, and overall sales fell at EMI by 11.4% during the half year. It said half-year profits were £36.9m ($68.2m), down from £39.8m.   Overall

The future of EMI, the British record label behind Coldplay, Robbie Williams, Madonna and Lily Allen, was plunged into doubt today when it admitted to making massive losses.   The 113-year-old company slumped to a pre-tax loss of £1.75 billion in the last financial year and is struggling to repay bank loans. Its private equity owner, Terra Firma, has been forced to demand extra money, at least £105 million, from its investors to meet terms of the deal set by lender Citicorp. If it fails to, the

According to Coldplay's Official Website, the band has been nominated for two MTV Asia awards, one for Favorite Rock Act and the other for Favorite Video (In My Place). The awards ceremony will take place on January 24th.   You can vote for 'A Rush of Blood to the Head' as the best album of 2002 over at VH1.com. They're up against Nelly, No Doubt, Bruce Springsteen, Pink and Eminem. Be sure to vote!   Canoe is reporting that Coldplay has tapped Toronto singer-songwriter Ron Sexsmith to open up 1

Coldplay Collaboration with Brian Eno is a triumph, say Sonic State.   Brian Eno produced the new album by Coldplay Viva La Vida along with Arcade Fire producer Marcus Dravs. The album was recorded in an old Bakery between Camden and Primrose Hill near London. A location chosen for its anonymity so that the band was not unduly interrupted by fans during the recording. Here's what Sonic State said about the album on first listen:   Not being the greatest Coldplay followers here at Sonic it would

ANDREW DENTON: So you guys went and played a kind of an acoustic gig.   CHRIS MARTIN: Yes, we went busking. Yes.   ANDREW DENTON: In the car park. What was that like?   CHRIS MARTIN: Well busking is great. We've only been busking twice. The first time was, our drummer Will and myself had no money and this must have been in 1999, and we both were saying to each other, "You're really good at singing and I think we were quite talented," and he would say to me, "No, I think you're really quite talen

Eric Clapton disapproves of bands like U2 and Coldplay as they seem to put their fame before their music.   The 61-year-old guitar legend told The Times: "Right now, the power of music sits with Simon Cowell and Coldplay and U2, who are really people who just attend awards shows. "From just listening I can't tell the difference between Coldplay and U2. The one in Coldplay even dances like Bono."   Clapton said that he's also worried that modern bands are forgetting where rock and roll has come f

At an awards ceremony in Cannes last weekend, Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, greeted his ultimate corporate boss with the news that he'd just eaten a Lion Bar.   "It was the first thing he said to me," says Eric Nicoli, head of the EMI music company. "He knows I invented it and he loves it. It's his favourite chocolate bar." He stops and smiles, "You know, it still gives me a warm feeling to think of it."   Read the full article here

Eskimo Joe's frontman Kav Temperley was recently seen wandering the streets of New York talking gibberish.   He hadn’t lost the plot, though an early flight to New York the day after a big night at the ARIA Awards didn’t help his state of mind. Rather he was reciting the lyrics to New York backwards as part of some technical wizardry for the song’s video. “I was ridiculously jetlagged, majorly hung over and had to learn how to sing backwards,” Temperley says. “It’s not easy, especially if your h

Two Estonian university students enjoyed a private 20-minute Skype call with Coldplay frontman Chris Martin yesterday.   Edging out 6,000 other hopefuls, the pair was handpicked by band members from a worldwide pool of contestants who left a message in Coldplay’s Skype voicemail to tie in with the release of “Talk,” the hypnotic hit single released from Coldplay’s multi-platinum third album “X&Y” a few months ago.   The contest was a joint promotion by Skype, the global Internet communicat