In light of the Sony hack, here is a vintage Sony Music blind:
After the huge success of his debut solo album, this artist told Sony that he wanted to release his next album as a double CD. They told him no, double albums don't work, and he was under contract. The artist got upset; after all, he had just made Sony an insane amount of money. On one phone call to the artist's manager, a Sony executive stated "Tell that jumped up little f****t to do what he is told." Unbeknownst to the Sony executive, the phone call was recorded by the artist's manager. When the manager played the call back for the artist, the artist went off big time. That is what caused the rift between the artist and Sony, and why the artist wanted to get off the label. For his debut album, the artist let Sony mould his look 100% because Sony promised him that if he had success, they would give him more creative freedom on future albums. He also wanted to come out, which Sony shut down because his fan base was largely comprised of young girls. To add insult to injury, another band released a double CD for Universal Music Group around the same time that the artist's double CD was denied; that band's double CD was a huge success. At that point, the relationship between the artist and Sony was beyond repair, and Sony finally released him from his contract. There is a lot of symbolism about the rift in one of the artist's music videos for his second album.
Artist:
Album:
Other Band:
Double CD:
Music Video:
