JARRE AND SONY SPLIT - TALKS WITH NEW LABEL ONGOING
by revo
on 20/10/2001.
We are now able to publically announce and confirm the news that Jean Michel Jarre and Sony have decided to go their separate ways, after being together for just over four years. The mutual agreement to split was made back in April 2001 between Jarre/FDM and Sony. Reasons for the split are numerous, including:
Jean Michel was not at all satisfied with the sales of Metamorphoses and feels in some territories Sony did not bother to promote the product at all (e.g. The Netherlands, Scandinavia, etc.). He voiced some of his dissent during the webchat the day after on the last Akropolis concert on Thursday 21st June. However, some Sony territories stated they were disappointed with the sales of Metamorphoses, such as the UK, where the promotion for the album was impressive in terms of printed media coverage.
There was a major disagreement with the official website, jarre.com, in which Jarre wanted to transfer it's content for fans to control (who now run the current official website jarre.net), however Sony refused to let the official website to be run in this way.
Sony have voiced concerns that promoting Jean Michel Jarre has been a headache. This is particularly relevant for TV/radio promotion, there was very few broadcasts in which Jarre could 'fit' into.
Two of the men behind Jarre's and FDM's decision to sign with Sony back in 1996, Richard Ogden and Paul Russell, have both quit Sony Music Europe. With Richard leaving Sony in autumn 2000 to start his own PA company based in Germany, while Paul is now with Sony USA in New York. Richard Ogden always took a keen interest in what Jean Michel was doing, being a Jarre fan himself. Even Francis Dreyfus in 1996 stated that both Ogden and Russell were two big factors for going to Sony in the first place. It seems without their presence, Jarre would not benefit as he did before being with Sony, especially without the presence of Richard Ogden.
As it stands, Jarre's back catalogue will remain with Sony for the time being, until a new label has been agreed by Jarre (read below for further information). The cut off period for Jarre's back catalogue being available on Sony is July 2003, however a new label should be in full force long before this date.
Negotations with two major labels are on-going at present and are in advanced stages. However, we will not mention either of the labels in negotation before a deal with one of them is finally struck. You can ensure that we will warn you well in advance which record label will be part of Jarre's universe once the deal has been struck. Stay tuned on here for the latest.
There has also been rumours spreading on the Internet that Jarre has split with Francis Dreyfus Music (FDM). We can confirm that this is not true and has been strongly denied by FDM themselves and Jarre is still very much with FDM.
What do you think of the news? Email us your opinion at sony@revolution-uk.com and we will do our own comments page about the time Jean Michel Jarre was with Sony, including quashing some rumours that have been going around for quite some time.
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