Deseree Stukes ([email protected])
Tue, 8 Sep 1998 08:58:13 -0400
U2 signs $50 million deal for greatest hits discs
By Erich Boehm
LONDON (Variety) - Rock group U2, which underwhelmed the music industry
with its last album, ``Pop,'' has struck a $50 million deal with
Polygram for three ``best of'' albums.
The deal is unique in that while other veteran acts such as R.E.M.,
Madonna and Janet Jackson have made hefty deals in the recent past,
their contracts were for new material.
The first of the U2 releases, with the working title ``The Best Of U2
Volume One 1980-1990,'' is due out Nov. 2. It will be accompanied by a
separate release featuring B-sides. The two may also be combined into a
limited-edition double release.
Polygram, parent of U2's Island Records label, is currently being
acquired by Seagram for $10.4 billion. Under U2 manager Paul McGuinness'
deal, the lion's share of the $50 million is believed payable to U2
immediately, meaning Polygram, under Philips' control, will pay. By the
time the albums are released, however, Seagram should be in the driver's
seat.
U2 has sold more than 87 million records worldwide. The ``best of''
album featuring post-1990 material may hit the shops as early as
Christmas 1999. U2's ``Pop,'' which took the band into techno territory,
sold relatively disappointingly in the U.S. upon its early 1997 release.
Reuters/Variety
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