Showing posts with label Def Jam. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Def Jam. Show all posts

Monday, August 18, 2008

Hitting number 1 for the fourth time, Is Rihanna broke? Do you think this is true?


First of all, I have to say, if I had $20,000.00, I'd be one smiling motherfucker. If I was Rihanna with $20,000.00, I'd be pissed. If you really look at it though, I guess she hurts because she doesn't write her own music.

I don't know. I pray for her and hope it isn't true but do you think it could be? Are the major labels really this shady?

TAZ

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Patricia Williams, who was recently released from her duties as Rihanna's accountant, tell all to New York's Page Six revealing that the singer is broke, check it out the report:

Rihanna's now ex-business manager Patricia Willliams has been recently fired as she recalls "for no good reason, all in ignorance" and is "livid" with Rihanna & her management company Rebel One's decision to axe her.

Rihanna recently met with Willliams to check on her accounting affairs and was shocked to see that almost all her money was missing. She instantly accused Willliams of "stealing her money."

"I'm a professional Business Manager, I have a staff of more than a dozen, I have worked for many high profile actors, musicians and multi-million dollar corporations. Why would I steal from Rihanna?" She continues, "I showed her all the paperwork and tried to explain to her the circumstances but she wouldn't listen. She called me all sorts of horrible names and stormed off. I now feel compelled to share with the world the background story as I will not allow my name to be slandered"

The Barbados born singer has had four back-to-back albums, including a re-release since her debut of "Pon De Replay" in 2005.

According to Willliams, Marc Jordan, manager and owner of Rebel One Management has been taking care of Rihanna's financial situation with her. "Def Jam doesn't fund Rihanna properly, so Marc uses the money Rihanna makes from third-party endorsements and from tours to fund her album and music videos." Since 2005, Rihanna has been sponsored by the likes of JC Penny, Samsung, Covergirl, Secret, Venus Breeze etc,. and has gone on two major tours, most recently label-mate Kanye West's "Glow in the Dark" Tour and with pussyCat Dolls across Europe.

"I don't want to disrespect Marc's name. He is a fantastic manager and genuinely believes in Rihanna. But he uses her money to fund her future projects because he believes he can break her in the world-market. Her album sales are not nearly as close to her single sales and he knows that if she is only known as a 'singles artist' she will only be as good as her last hit. Unfortunately, he didn't inform his client and I'm receiving the brunt of it.

"Why is Def Jam lacking in funding support for there act? Why was so much money spent? How much exactly? Williams continues,

"Her record label Def Jam has put out 3 albums in a time span of 2 years. Alot of that was orchestrated through her management Rebel One. It was never Def Jam's intention to release so many albums back-to-back but Marc Jordan found loop holes and ways to make it happen.A lot of the money Rihanna made through her endorsements between CoverGirl Cosmetics, Samsung.. Notice that majority of Rihanna's videos have a cell phone in it?"

"After the release of Rihanna and Teairra Mari, Def Jam had intention to drop both acts because their album sales were not successful. Her manager fought to get [S.O.S (Rescue Me)] and quickly tried to negotiate with as many companies as possible. Nike picked up the song and funded a video. This brought the hype back for Rihanna in the company's New York office. Majority of the official 'S.O.S' video was funded by Samsung because the record label was only willing to put up a small amount. Once 'S.O.S' picked up digitally and at radio, Def Jam agreed to fund the rest of her album. Jordan instantly got a video shot to 'Unfaithful' (he negotiated with video director Anthony Mandler to drop his price and would be given more videos from Rihanna in return). Then they shot 'We Ride' which was an extremely cheap video to create. 'Break It Off' was released as a third album, but again, Def Jam was unhappy with the sales of her album "A Girl Like Me" and refused to shoot a video. At this point Rihanna was opening up for the pussyCat Doll's in Europe. She was making 30,000 a show but she didn't see any of that money because it was needed to fund her next album." Which is now known to the greater public as a 'Good Girl Gone Bad'."

The song "Umbrella" was found & Jordan fought again for Rihanna to have it. They shot the video, which CoverGirl funded half of, and the song became a success. When the record label had there meeting with Music Stores across the U.S to order her album for shipment, the number's weren't coming in the way that they expected. When the album's first week numbers came in at less than 150,000, the label was shocked. Def Jam's President LA Reid was livid! Umbrella was #1 for 11 weeks! Any other artist would have sold way more first week. T-Pain even did better in sales than her that week. Def Jam told Jordan they were no longer funding the album, so Jordan needed money again to pay for music videos 'Shut Up & Drive' and 'Dont Stop The Music'. Almost 250,000 was spent to have those videos created. Plus, an additional 120,000 to shoot 'Hate That I Love You'. Jordan was noticing that 'Dont Stop The Music' was picking up, so her persuaded the label to support it at radio in the U.S and the remaining singles, and they did."

"Then came for the repackaging of her album 'Good Girl Gone Bad', which is called 'Good Girl Gone Bad: Reloaded', that entire project was funded through Rihanna's money. 'Take A Bow' was bought through her money, the video was created with her money and so is her most recent video and single 'Disturbia'. The label didn't even want to pay a dime for anything! Close to 750,000 was spent on those two songs alone. And now she expects to see money in her account?"

Williams states that Jordan, her publicist from well-respected public relations firm 42-West, Alicia Silverman has built alot of hype around Rihanna's name but the singer has only made "a little bit above a million" and "all of it was spent on making her as big as she is now. It's not my fault that she only has 20,000 to her name."

If this is indeed true, I can't help but feel sorry for the girl after all she's has been hard at work for the last three to four years really trying to take her career to the next level. This does explain a lot though, because I often wonder why Teairra Mari was dropped and Rihanna wasn't considering neither one of the act's album sales were stellar. Just like I have been wondering how Rihanna's 'Good Girl Gone Bad' got so many video and single releases in the early stages despite albums sales not warranting it, so this really help me understand the situation a lot better. Rihanna has become a hot ticket here lately and album sales are picking up, so maybe she won't have to continue to fund her project out of here own pocket, best of luck to her and I will keep you updated when something more concrete comes along.

Thursday, January 10, 2008

She's Back!!! Janet Jackson on new label and ready to talk "Discipline"


This is taken from her DEF Jam artist profile. I think she is going to do it this time. Her "Feedback" single is the best from her in years, and benefits from the fact that crazy Britney didn't promote "Blackout". Also L.A. Reid, the monster behind Mimi's return, as well as Usher, TLC, P!nk and Toni Braxton, is co producing the entire album with Miss Jackson, and the new video, well her and her dancers fire it up in a vat of cum. How is that for nasty Madonna.

But anyways...Good Luck Miss Jackson. And as your biggest fan, I will most definately see you at your DC, LA, Miami and New York tour dates...LMAO

TAZ

Sitting across from a roaring fireplace on winter afternoon in Vail, Janet is curled up on a dark leather couch as she discusses the unlikely topic of Discipline, the title of her new album. Beyond the floor-to-ceiling window, long graceful branches of towering trees are heavy with snow. In the distance, a lift carries skiers up an imposing mountain awash in white. Janet's wearing a midnight-black sweat suit, her hair pulled back to the nape of her deck. Her body language is relaxed and her eyes are smiling. She's trim, and also a little hoarse, having just fought off a cold. The whisper-quiet texture of her voice adds to the intimacy of the conversation. "Discipline has been much on my mind," she says. "It's the idea that unifies the songs on this record. As a concept, and even a lifestyle, discipline goes extremely deep. It can be applied to so much about ourselves. In my case, I see it as one of defining aspects of my character. Discipline was there for me from the start. But it was not until this record that I began to understand its full meaning. "In putting Discipline out front-- as both the title of the album and title of a song about sexual surrender--I wanted to announce that I was venturing into new creative waters. That meant working with producers like Jermaine Dupri, Rodney Jerkins, and Ne-Yo, whose songs spoke to the immediacy of my emotions. Like all my records, this one, whether intentional or not, has autobiographical roots. It's difficult for me to work any other way. I don't feel it, if I don't believe it, I can't sing it. "So Discipline, as a storyline, begins in my childhood which someone could see as a classic study in discipline. Discipline was part of a family culture that I absorbed. I was born with it. "I also believe that discipline has given me the confidence to jump out of the nest. When L.A. Reid, Chairman of Island Def Jam, and I discussed co-executive producing this record, we both agreed that the feeling had to adventuresome and fresh. I was interested in exploring musical scenarios-some exotic, many erotic, but all deeply emotional. I wanted to push the envelope. And I'm glad that `Discipline,' both as a song and an album, does just that.