Good news for good music! Mute, which has been under the control of the evil major conglomerate EMI since 2002, is independent once more. Street cred returns to old signees from the early days, like Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Erasure, and Moby, while founder Daniel Miller (who began Mute in 1978) can take more than just nominal charge. (The only vestige of EMI’s previous control is a minority stake, in addition to certain benefits for Mute after a label services deal).
Today’s Mute is technically a new independent label with the Mute name, but there are some licensing issues. According to Billboard.biz, while EMI is giving some of Mute’s back catalog back to Miller (Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, Grinderman, Yeasayer, Erasure, Andy Bell, Liars, Polly Scattergood, and A Place to Bury Strangers), EMI will keep Depeche Mode, Goldfrapp, Richard Hawley, Kraftwerk, and White Rabbits. EMI, nice guys that they are (okay, so they’re not necessarily “evil”), has pledged to help Mute with royalty administration and certain business aspects.
Let’s have some fireworks — Independence Day comes twice this year!
• Mute: http://www.mute.com
