According to the Daily Mail, Joss Stone wants so much to leave EMI that she is offering the label £2 million to be let out of her contract. Allegedly, the singer wants very much to leave, though she has only released one album during her £7.5m four-album deal.
After the private equity firm Terra Firma purchased EMI in 2007, many artists – including Lily Allen – were disheartened and have publically criticized the move. In recent years, Radiohead and Paul McCartney have left the label, and Joss Stone is just the latest artists to claim that she has “no working relationship” with EMI.
The singer – who sold 11 million copies of her debut album – has been reportedly reluctant to pass recordings of her new record over to the label. Instead of sharing Colour Me Free with EMI, she wants to pay to be released from the label.
EMI claims that Stone missed a deadline for Colour Me Free in 2008, and the label has filed suit for the return of £1.2m of the singer’s advance. The singer will be named co-defendant on June 22 in the case.
Stone blamed the label for the album delay back in March, telling the Daily Mail: “[EMI] were supposed to be launching the album in April but now they’ve postponed it until July. They really need to pull their finger out. I’ve worked very hard on this record and I don’t know what the plans are until EMI confirms a release date.”