Brian Southall - The Rise and Fall of EMI Records
Omnibus Press, RRP$59.95
By Andrew P Street
Given the parlous state of the music industry, it's no surprise that The Rise and Fall of EMI occasionally
reads like Stan Cornyn's similarly-fascinating Exploding: The Highs, Hits,
Hype, Heroes, and Hustlers of the Warner Music Group. However, while
Cornyn's viewpoint was from the lofty vistas of LA, Brian Southall is as Brit-centric as the label he's writing about.
The lesson of this book is the same lesson that every other
record company has learned: a badly run label with a great roster of artists can
prosper in spite of itself (UK indie Creation Records survived founder Alan McGee's drug-fuelled lunacy through the 80s and 90s purely because of the fortunately timed
successes by Ride, Primal Scream and Oasis), but the best managed, most
economically responsible label won't make money if they don't have the tunes.
And according to Southall, that's been EMI's greatest problem for the past ten
years, especially in the US. By 2008 most of the big names had left (Paul
McCartney, Rolling Stones, Radiohead), ceased to record (Blur, Spice Girls),
slipped commercially (Robbie Williams, KT Tunstall) or were in the process of
finishing off their contract (Coldplay). And while the lable has consistently boasted
huge UK acts, they've consistently underperformed in the US and haven't had a
significant American star on the roster in the last 20 years. That is, aside from
the multi-million-dollar signing and almost immediate multi-million-dollar dropping of Mariah Carey – an extraordinary story which really deserves a book in itself.
Speaking of the international viewpoint, Australian readers will also get a sharp
lesson in exactly how important our local talent and market is: which is to say, not at all.
Australia's sales barely warrant a mention, and none of our so-called
international success stories get a look in (sorry, Jet; condolences, Kasey Chambers).
Instead we learn of the (flawed) personalities in EMI's management, watch the
never-to-be-consummated romance between EMI and Warners (even as Universal buys
up everything that moves and Sony and BMG get the nod for their merger) and
generally watch the music industry fall to pieces. There's also an excellent
potted history of the label from its inception. Ddid you know that EMI
developed, and were damn near bankrupted by, the CAT Scanner? How many other
labels even had a medical electronics division? None, that's how many.
Southall stops short of suggesting any solutions. He sticks
to reporting the story, not editorialising, although you can feel the distaste
with which he observes the home of the Beatles become a content house for its
current owners, investment house Terra Firma. While things have moved even
further since publication (goodbye, SonyBMG; hello again, Sony) The Rise and
Fall of EMI Records is full of valuable insights for anyone interested in the
inner workings of the music biz, as well as a sobering experience for anyone hoping for easy answers to
the complex questions currently facing the entertainment industry.
You've read what we think. Now tell us what you think.