Newbie
15-01-2007, 10:09 pm
V2 Closes Shop on New Releases, White Stripes Are Free
Staff, artists let go; label shifts focus to catalogue releases
Get ready for V2 v. 2.0: leaner, meaner, and intrepidly backward-looking, with 90% fewer new releases and 100% fewer employees.
According to a Billboard.com report and verified by a V2 publicist, V2 North America parent company Sheridan Square Entertainment (which purchased the label from its founder, Virgin entertainment mogul Richard Branson, in 2005) has, effective January 12, initiated plans to restructure the imprint's entire operation.
As of last Friday, V2 no longer releases new material from its artists, focusing almost exclusively on maintaining its back catalogue (a task to be overseen by Chief Operating Officer Michael Olsen in Nashville) and pursuing digital ventures. The only exception is the gospel genre, to which V2 will continue contributing new records.
Restructuring also meant terminating all of V2's employees, including label president Andy Gershon. "I wish the best for everybody that's still left at V2 and Sheridan Square," Gershon told Billboard.com, which estimates 35 people lost their jobs this past Friday. A publicist from V2 declined to comment on the situation.
Artists on the V2 roster-- which include alternative radio heavyweights like the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, the Crystal Method, and Moby-- now return to the auction block; V2 will, however, retain back catalogue rights for these acts.
isn't Duke signed to V2 ???
Staff, artists let go; label shifts focus to catalogue releases
Get ready for V2 v. 2.0: leaner, meaner, and intrepidly backward-looking, with 90% fewer new releases and 100% fewer employees.
According to a Billboard.com report and verified by a V2 publicist, V2 North America parent company Sheridan Square Entertainment (which purchased the label from its founder, Virgin entertainment mogul Richard Branson, in 2005) has, effective January 12, initiated plans to restructure the imprint's entire operation.
As of last Friday, V2 no longer releases new material from its artists, focusing almost exclusively on maintaining its back catalogue (a task to be overseen by Chief Operating Officer Michael Olsen in Nashville) and pursuing digital ventures. The only exception is the gospel genre, to which V2 will continue contributing new records.
Restructuring also meant terminating all of V2's employees, including label president Andy Gershon. "I wish the best for everybody that's still left at V2 and Sheridan Square," Gershon told Billboard.com, which estimates 35 people lost their jobs this past Friday. A publicist from V2 declined to comment on the situation.
Artists on the V2 roster-- which include alternative radio heavyweights like the White Stripes, the Raconteurs, the Crystal Method, and Moby-- now return to the auction block; V2 will, however, retain back catalogue rights for these acts.
isn't Duke signed to V2 ???