This record is about
overcoming challenges.
It's very important to
fight for what you feel is right.
We were backed into a corner.
For us, it was all or nothing...
Sometimes you have to
fight in order to be free.
"This Is War" is an album
about conflict.
We had a huge battle
with our record company.
The album kind of documented
this really turbulent time
in our lives.
There has always been a serious
distrust between an artist
and their record label.
I never heard of a label
that doesn't screw an artist.
That's the business model
is screwing the artist.
None of us in a band ever dreamed
that we would be so lucky
to have the success that we've had.
Now here we were faced
with the possibility
that everything was gonna be
ripped right away from us.
There is a kind of economic
perfect storm brewing
disastrous situation
they're losing their jobs
rising gas prices
My friends and fellow Americans,
I am very pleased and
very privileged to introduce to you
the next vice-president
of the United States:
Governor Sarah Palin
of the great state of Alaska.
You can hear the bugles blaring.
The sound of the battle cry.
The march of the drum
calling me from my slumber,
pushing me toward
A new day. A new fight.
Oh wow... Oh wow...
It's too fucking bright.
It was 2008, we were on the road
for over 2 years and had recently
returned to Los Angeles to work
on our third album.
After over a decade of struggling,
we finally had a breakthrough
and achieved more success
than we ever dreamed.
Our second album A Beautiful Lie
sold over 3,5 Million copies
and gave us the chance to tour the world.
We were all incredibly excited
about this time in our lives
and we decided to make a film
about the next album but...
It quickly turned into something else.
Thirty Seconds to Mars is being sued for...
30 Million Dollars! Cute! Right?
This summer, the band's label Virgin/EMI
filed a breach-of-contract suit
against Thirty Seconds to Mars.
However, Jared insists
that the band was just exercising
their legal rights.
What do they want?
30 Million Dollars.
Really?
You're being sued for 30 Million Dollars
What are you?... Huh...
How do you sleep at night?
I have no idea where the number came from
other than...
It certainly wasn't a wink to the press or
were we clever to use the same number...
Thirty Seconds to Mars have just sold a lot of...
a lot of albums and never made any money.
We weren't really expecting
a bunch of money
we just thought it bizarre that...
that all this revenue was being generated
and that we were still 2.7 Million Dollars in debt so,
we started to look into it.
Thirty Seconds to Mars suffered a
contract that really wasn't even
a direct contract with EMI,
it was bad deal.
They basically told us to shut up
and go make another album.
They weren't addressing our concerns
that we had with the contracts,
so we decided to terminate with EMI.
We've been signed for 9 years.
Under California law, you can't be held
bound to a contract for more than 7 years
which the courts and myself
and we all feel is pretty reasonable.
On July 4th 2008, we sent a termination letter
to EMI. We sighted the 7-year statute
which legally ended our contract
with the company.
With any lawsuit,
there is two sides of the argument.
Your side of the argument was:
"Our contract is no longer valid
because of the 7-year statute"
and their side of it is:
"No, that is not applicable.
You have a commitment based on a number of albums,
based on the amount of money we've spent
and you're not free to terminate this."
It really is David against Goliath
and... and in this case the label,
the Goliath was well, here's a 30 Million Dollars lawsuit
like I am just gonna keep you awake, they don't...
It doesn't keep them awake
suing for 30 Million Dollars, it's just:
I'm just stress you out, you know, emotionally
and financially until you cave.
30 Million Dollars.
Yeah.
I think, it's so crazy
that it doesn't even really register with me.
Like it's so fuckin' like just fantastically huge
that I don't really get it.
You would hope that, in success,
that they would even take the initiative to be:
Okay look, you guys,
you have the worst record deal on the planet.
Let's make this right
because we know at some point
you're gonna educate yourselves,
you're gonna realize that you've been stolen from
and you've been highjacked.
They don't do that.
No.
They make the artist do that
and they don't want to do what's fair, what's right,
You have to threaten them with legal actions,
you have to threaten them with creating precedences
in order to get them just to make
a slightly fair deal that still leaves them
with the complete lion share of everything
and the complete domination
of Thirty Seconds to Mars.
Musical taste actually begins to form in the womb,
the developing fetus has a fully functioning
auditory system at 20 weeks and is hearing
all of the sounds of the environment.
Music is everywhere.
It's really woven into the fabric of everyday life.
Perceptual studies have shown that,
in the higher hierarchy of needs,
the two things that people care most about,
are music and sex.
So, there is no question
that music is a primal need
and it's unbelievably powerful.
No other art form works like music.
Paintings are beautiful
but, you know, once you see it
eventually you see everything in it.
With music, it's forever changing.
For a piece of music to succeed,
it has to take you through
some kind of emotional journey.
The right chord sequence,
the right few seconds of a song
and you are right there.
That's exactly how I feel.
I love in trying to interpret what
the music is saying both lyrically and musically,
that's why I like music
and once I've tried to figure it out,
I have personally crazy fantasies of what
the person was thinking about
when they wrote that
and why they wrote that
and how does it relate to me.
That's what music is.
You mix the right word at the right time
with something that's beautiful
and moving and sort of.
That makes you, you know,
the hair on the back of your neck stand up,
it's an incredible moment.
That's probably why we need it
because it's wonderful.
The song has a story in it,
there is a heart behind it,
there is a frequency within it
and you, as a person, delivered it
and that why people care.
Music is the most powerful vehicle in the world.
Period.
Despite the lawsuit,
we decided to move forward
and start making our new album.
And that meant financing it ourselves.
So, we built a studio in the basement
of the house in the Hollywood Hills,
hired Flood and began the process.
Flood is like this superstar producer.
A legend. A guy that has made albums
that will live forever.
I mean 20 years I've been listening to his work.
I used to look on the back of albums and CDs
and tapes and who is this guy Flood?
I didn't even know if he was a real person.
You always see this mysterious little name Flood.
He produced Depeche Mode.
U2.
Nine Inch Nails.
PJ Harvey.
Smashing Pumpkins
and the most important, obviously, is:
Thirty Seconds to Mars, so...
His wide range of creativity,
it's inspiring.
For me creativity is about vulnerability,
taking risks, showing one's true emotion
and to be able to make everybody feel as though
they can make mistakes,
they can put themselves out there
and there's no recriminations.
Jared took on a huge responsibility
and a huge burden when he chose to start making
"This is War" without a label on board.
He didn't know what the future held for the band.
It was very scary because
he was letting me know like:
"Look, we are alone.
There ain't gonna be any money coming in,
whatever we, as a band, or really me, Jared,
as like the leader, did good business to save
some of the money that we made,
that's now going to pay for our album
and our producer and our studio
which may result in zero Dollars."
We had to bet on ourselves,
even using Vegas terminology:
it's like if we are the black square,
we put everything on black and
we roll the dice.
We are heading to see our manager Irving Azoff
and our lawyer Peter Paterno.
How are you doing?
Good.
Okay, what do you want to do?
What I would like to happen is:
I would like to go to court,
I'd like to sit in front of a jury of my peers.
I think in any lawsuit that's a slam-dunk,
you still have a 20% chance you get screwed.
Let me ask you a big picture question:
Signing a record deal with a traditional
record company or not.
What are the other options?
My view has always been that any deal that
doesn't involve a major record label is better
than any deal any major label will offer you,
because you have your ownership, your masters.
The other issue too, that you have to keep in mind,
is that even if you signed
with one of these other alternatives,
EMI is still suing you.
It seems that we're between a rock and a hard place.
Either signed some antiquated dinosaur deal.
But what's the new model of it?
The new model is worse, so the antiquated
dinosaur deal is a good deal.
Why there isn't a new model that's better?
People are listening to music more than ever.
Cause they're all losing money.
They're not buying it.
They may be listening but
they're not buying it,
they're not paying for it.
It makes it even less valuable.
If it were a traditional record company
we wouldn't be sitting here,
we would have settle that a long time ago.
We drew a bad card.
We drew a guy from outside the business
who doesn't play by industry rules,
who doesn't give a shit.
We can't get them to settle.
They're not gonna settle now. They said to me:
"I don't care how long it takes.
I don't care how angry it makes the other label groups.
I would go to court to a decision."
The record business is in a very very serious trouble.
If you look at historically other businesses
that have gone away, I think there is
this kind of gradual decline... Well gradual,
it has been pretty severe, but like this
and then it just reaches a kind of tipping point
and just falls off the cliff.
The economics around the record business
is based on selling albums.
You know growing up you had to buy the entire album
to get the song you loved, you had to!
You had no choice!
And now, what happens is:
A kid is sitting at home and goes:
"I've got to hear that Kings and Queens song,
I got to hear that!"
They don't have to get in a car or ask their parents
and save up 12 bucks to go buy.
Now you're given a choice and
you can buy the song you love
without buying the album, you gonna do that,
not only that, when you can buy... Have it for free.
Record sales have dipped 20% a year
for the last 6 years, now.
That's a lot.
The music business has really become decimated
and it has been largely because of illegal downloads.
Others factors too.
But the predicament we're in now, is
that an entire generation of music listeners,
virtually everybody under the age of 21,
has grown up in a world
where, for their entire sentient lives,
they've never had to pay for music.
And they look at people my age and
who buy music they think we're saps.
Why would you pay for something that's free?
It would be like paying for air!
I've heard someone like Trent Reznor say:
"You know, you work for a fucking year on something,
and you put all this time and you spend all this money
on creating these songs and a cup of coffee
like the other day, cost more than your song."
Consumers wouldn't walk into a grocery store,
and steal a loaf of bread and have it
but it became okay to steal music.
That really isn't something you blame the labels for,
you know, that's technology.
The labels have never been cohesive enough to create
their own future distribution systems.
Which is why it took a computer company
to start iTunes, hum... Have they've been smart enough
they would have co-owned their own digital delivery
like iTunes, you know, that was a big mess up.
When Apple, which is a great company,
don't get me wrong, is the third largest company in America
and the biggest music retailer in America,
I think that's concerning.
It's a device manufacturer.
The labels are petrified and terrified.
They don't know what's going on,
they don't even understand their own industry anymore,
they've been too big and too slow to change, so
I do think they're just gonna start to crumble.
Let's play "Kings and Queens"...
There is definitely something in there,
let's try it again.
I think this is the part (I think so too)
I'm sitting here... I'm singing it in my head.
It's infectious, I want to hear it again.
That guitar creeping up... I mean...
Great! ... Yeah! ...
So, I know, for making records like this,
the hard work, the struggle is all part of it,
it's about being truthful to yourselves.
That's what I mean about now.
It's like you can take it and embrace it.
And go with it.
Be a bit off balance, try out a few mad things
and there you are in a great place to do that.
In the middle of all this,
we got some good news: we were nominated
for a Latin MTV award. So, we packed our bags
and flew ourselves to Mexico.
After an exciting and unforgettable night,
we woke up to discover that we had been served
with legal papers from EMI.
You have to understand this whole story
really began before we started the album.
Before we got sued, when we were
in friendly renegotiations with EMI.
And that was going well,
Irving was talking to them.
We had met some efforts to address some commercial
terms of the Thirty Seconds to Mars agreement
that I think, we all recognized,
were probably inappropriate.
And then, something happened.
That effort stalled out for whatever reason.
Soon investors won't be able
to buy a piece of the Beatles.
EMI is going private next month.
The British music publisher is being acquired
for nearly 5 Billion Dollars.
Terra Firma is an UK based private equity company.
They tent to buy companies that are distressed,
not necessarily companies that are in distressed industries,
which is important point when you come back around EMI.
If you are in England, I imagine you look at EMI:
it's the home of the Beatles,
it's is one of the most iconic British companies ever.
And you say to yourself: "Wow! I can fix that too.
Those dummies, I'm sure that they don't know what they're doing either.
So, let me buy that and turn it around."
The real principal of Terra Firma is Guy Hands,
he's essentially the guy who runs Terra Firma.
Guy Hands, he is a self-made billionaire.
He's been incredibly successful.
One of the victories he had was
he bought all the gas stations
on a highway in northern Europe.
And he cleaned the bathrooms.
Once they cleaned them all of sudden
business went up at the gas stations,
at the convenience stores attached to them.
And he made a ton of money.
They spent billions of dollars on a company
and I really think that they believed
they could transform it.
When Terra Firma came in and purchased EMI
they became that benefactor regime
that sued us for 30 Million bucks.
Terra Firma took the negotiation away from us.
I think they looked at it and they said:
I think they didn't like the fact
that it was a friendly renegotiation.
They came with a perspective of we've got to be hard nose.
Take one...
I'm in a bad beginning... And again...
Woo... It's getting warmed up, dude, one more.
Perfect
Let's just do a couple of more
and then we'll listen
One more...
One last one... One Maaaas...
Give me one second to loosen my hand up
One more... Just for fun.
Dude, you're still under a hundred takes.
You're at ninety seven.
Ninety seven? Okay. Fuck that!
We're gonna do three more.
Yes! Come on!
Hold on... Let me get ready...
I never met anyone as driven
who will work this hard
who will go to the, you know,
end of the earth and back,
just on a one and a million chance,
that something is gonna help the music.
There is nobody, that I know personally,
that can say that they do for their art
and their work what he does.
You ask me what Jared's role is
in the making of This is War?
It's too small of a question
to encompass what he does in the world of Thirty Seconds to Mars
He is the Mastermind.
Success on the level that we even have right now
we never dreamed. You couldn't... How could you dream of this?
My brother and I were born in Louisiana.
We climbed out of the muddy banks of the Mississippi
with our instruments in one hand
and... A fist full of food stamps in the other.
We had a very young mother.
I think she was pregnant with me and
had my brother by the time she was 18.
I was a child that had children.
I never considered that any of it was difficult.
Going to school with two babies and
being on welfare and having food stamps
and Medicaid cards.
When you are a kid and you're poor,
I don't think you realize it.
It wasn't until I got much older
I realized we didn't have money to go out
buy a bunch of presents
Every Christmas was really about making
presents for each other.
We moved around quite a bit as kids.
When we lived together it was always this thing,
there was always something going on,
we were making art, making music.
There was always things around,
anybody could pick up and draw a paint with,
and dress up and dance around and sing.
I mean there was always that energy,
that creative energy.
They were indoctrinated into music quite
really early. It was like music, music, music, music.
My mother used to sing in the car.
I remember she would harmonize with songs.
I remember thinking that she always had a great voice.
She was always listening to music
and exposed us to a lot of great music.
And I never really thought
that you could be a musician in a band.
I never thought about fame,
I never thought about any of that stuff.
That early childhood, that creative exposure
really helped shape my brother and I
in an important way.
Yeah, I like that, it sounds great.
It's definitely a tough place
to play something different I think.
What do the vocals say?
Right away, when they go off?
Wait, I don't even know the chorus.
It's also no rush.
We should just take the time it needs
to get it right.
And if we have to do it over 3 days,
we'll do over 3 days.
I'm just in it. I just... You know...
And then, it's gone... Oh my god, okay.
No, I got that.
That's the way it is, that's all.
Let's encourage each other to enjoy it as well.
This discovery.
Because it's awesome stuff,
the feel that you came out with the snare,
totally cool and you never done it before.
Let have a bit of joy while we do it.
That's all good... Different processes man.
I am enjoying it.
I got him all fooled.
We getting there, but there's still lots to do.
I never heard of a label
that doesn't screw an artist.
You talk to anybody who audits their label
they're always own money.
And if nothing else,
usually the label holds back enough money
that your cost of auditing is such
that you won't do it, so...
That's the business model is screwing the artist.
The financial practices have been shady
since the beginning of time.
It's been grandfathered in since the 50's
and 60's when rock and roll really started.
In the 50's, they were screwing the artist then,
but there was much much less money involved.
Then as you start to go into the 60's
and the 70's, the hit to shit ratio is
so bad that they're saying:
"Hey! You know, we can't pay the hit artist
cause he is paying for all the bad artists."
It goes back to how the music industry was set up
in the very early stages of the recording industry,
taking advantage of uneducated, easily swayed
artists who don't really care about the money.
Unfortunately there's a lot of fall out with,
still with bands getting paid, you know.
We had to sue our label to get paid.
They've created this strange convoluted system
that you have to be a lawyer
to really understand... Or mathematician.
A typical record deal is structured
something like this:
The record label gives an advance say:
250.000$ to the artist to record an album.
The artist then records the album.
Suppose that the album sales 500.000 copies
at 10$ each yielding 5 Million Dollars.
The record label then takes their cut out
of the 5 Million, typically 85% of the total sales.
Leaving the artist with 750.000 dollars.
But before the artist receives any payments,
the label first deducts the advance.
In addition the record label recoups other costs
such as: recording costs,
half the promotion costs,
half the video costs, and tour support.
This leaves the artist 425.000 Dollars
in debt to the record label.
And then this debt gets carried on
to the next album,
the next album,
and the next album.
I don't know if most people have seen
long form contracts, they're insane.
And there's all these little, these little things throwin' in.
It's kind of like legislating,
you know, legislature for a government.
They put up this big issue but underneath that issue
there's like seventeen other little laws
that they threw in, that they are not talking about.
So, when you say yes to this one thing
you are actually saying yes
to like forty five other things.
There's a worse one,
they use to have damage fees with digital downloads.
Digital downloads?
Like, at first they were doing that like
they just trying to get away with murder, you know.
It just like let's leave in there,
let's see if the lawyer sees it kind of thing.
Some other hidden items
that the contract includes are: packaging costs,
they deduct up to 25% of the artist cut
known as the royalty to cover the expense
of plastic cases and artwork.
This cost is even administered to digital downloads
where packaging is non-existent. 10% is deducted
to cover breakage costs during shipping.
They started in the vinyl era,
continued when CDs replaced vinyl
and still applies today with digital downloads.
The 10% free goods deduction is an antiquated
system where retailers purchased 100 albums
but are given an additional 10 albums at no charge.
Since the artist is only paid on album sold.
they are not compensated for those free albums.
This deduction still continues
even in a digitally dominated market.
Artists generate so much money for so many people
that have nothing to do with
the creative process at all.
There is no road you can go down
that the artist isn't fucked.
Most people out there who have jobs,
they can go to their boss ask for a raise,
they can leave and go get another job
if they are not happy.
Musicians don't really have that ability to do that.
And by the way, if we don't like,
if we don't feel like pushing your records anymore
we don't fell you gonna sell,
we're not gonna let you go,
we're just gonna put you on the shelf over here,
we won't really let you work
but we're not gonna let you leave either.
It's like being in a bad marriage.
At what point does your husband beat you up
or your wife beat you up and you say:
I had enough I'm leaving.
That's the point we are at right now.
I'll be back in a second, Irving is calling.
Can they stop us putting a record out?
It's really cool.
This is Taiko drumming
and I'm learning about Taiko drumming.
Shannon is a beast of a player.
He doesn't play in a song,
he takes the song over.
He inhabits it, he lives it,
he breathes it.
There's an energy that he has when he drums
that's fantastic. He's very animalistic.
He's completely emotionally reacting.
It's absolutely fascinating
to watch somebody like that.
My brother always had a love of music.
He had a real passion for it.
I would certainly not be doing this if it wasn't for him.
The only thing I took seriously in my life was music.
Before Thirty Seconds to Mars
I wasn't sure what I wanted to do.
I was doing construction, I was...
Breaking the law.
Jared often jokes about kids from the wrong side of the tracks,
I was definitely one of those kids.
He would disappear, you know,
he would just disappear.
I never knew what he was doing.
I reached a point in my life where
I needed some sort of change and
music was the only thing that made sense.
He and Jared started playing together a lot.
That's when it got serious.
That's when I was like: "Oh! Okay!
I need to follow this path."
He was the one that was motivated to make music.
He was the one that was do or die with it.
Just the energy of us playing together.
That was exciting.
I just wanted to play, play, play, play.
Okay. Secret spot. Pinky swear?!
I'll never be able to find it anyway. So, don't worry about it.
So, what's the deal?
You had a long meeting the other day.
Yeah, EMI wants to make a deal.
Interesting.
It's a shitty deal but, it's a deal.
So, we have a couple of options.
There's the option that's exciting to go on our own.
It feels like there's a lot of opportunities
with that independent spirit and taking the mindset at...
Rather than signing an antiquated deal
with a company that has no interest
in really doing anything
except making the numbers work.
But that's the reality,
if you want to sign a record deal.
That's what you're doing.
High nose. Both options.
Jared?
Both options are a big gamble.
Yeah, I don't know enough to have a real opinion.
But it's seems like going on our own
is the only way to go.
I don't know, it's hard.
Give me a name of one band
that's had continued worldwide success
without a label.
I can't give you one.
Some people say to take the deal.
Settle.
Yeah... Just take whatever deal you can get
cause this is so fucked right now.
Basically, you're looking for a record company
to handle very specific things
like promotion, marketing, and things
that I don't really want to have to deal with.
Right.
If we go completely independent, I'll end up...
That will be my life - morning, noon and night -
is going to be having to have a record company.
You feel you want to push army.
Yeah, I want to push army.
You take the rock of your choice,
or a bolder depending how big your issue is.
And you throw it over the precipice
and when you throw it, you scream,
and you let go of this particular aspect of
who you are or something in your life
that's plaguing you. And you leave it behind and...
And, well, we gonna do it right now.
I'm gonna start or you wanna?
I go first.
Yeah, you go first.
Let's see what you got.
I just heard somebody say "ouch!"
That's pretty good.
It never landed... what's that been...
This is so fucking nuts.
Yeah.
By the way, I think I came up
with a name for the album.
What is it?
"This is War."
It's easier than ever to make music and record it.
It's easier than ever to make videos
and record them properly.
It's easier than ever to put them out there
but it's harder than ever to make them heard
or have them heard because there's so much noise
on the internet so a record company
still has to do the job of helping to filter that
and to promote things properly
so that they can get noticed.
And there's certainly exceptions of artists
that have done well without a record company
but by in large the overwhelming majority of artists
that have achieved, you know,
major success, have been signed to major labels.
Major labels are giant Cyclopes,
and they have one very monstrously powerful eye
right in the middle of their forehead
and when it's staring at you, you know,
the world is a very bright and shiny place.
And when it's not, there is no getting attention of that thing.
If I knew a band was going to sign a major label deal,
I would probably try to dissuade them
or I would at least try to figure out
what they thought they were gonna get out of it.
Increasingly, artist development is a term
that's not even use at record companies, you know.
They use the word artist development
but it's offensive to a certain point
cause they don't really do that.
They look at the profiles,
in the old days, it was MySpace,
the profile numbers now it's Facebook,
YouTube, Twitter.
Can you sell 10 / 20 000 on your own without a label
and if so, then they start paying attention,
you know, kind of thing, but yeah,
but it's not artist development.
That's already signing an artist that's developed itself.
I think the main reason people really want labels now
it's legitimacy, especially when you are a new band that,
that what you're doing really kind of matters
and is part of something, and to get the press,
to get people believing in you.
So obviously, bands when they get big on their own
then they sign with a label for that: Legitimacy.
One thing we've definitely learn
is that artists need help.
Metric is a great example.
They were the first artists to break top 5
in pop radio with no label.
But if you talked to Matt Drouin
who manages Metric, he will tell you:
"We had more people working on that record
than if we were at a label.
We just hired them ourselves so, no,
we didn't have a label but
we kind of built our own staff around it."
When I got off the label, I pretty much knew
I didn't want to sign with another one.
And I knew nothing could beat doing direct business
with my fans, it wasn't...
There was no deal in the world that was that good.
I cannot tell you how many eMails
I've got from fans saying:
"We want to directly support you.
How can we do it so your label doesn't get the money?"
Give people awesome music
and then make it very easy for them to help you.
And they will.
There are lots of artists, like I said
who were finding themselves with this choice
and it is not to say
that the labels can't win the argument
as to why an artist should use them
and partner with them. Em... But it is to say
that there is a great number of tools available
to independent artists to do it on their own
and they are not necessarily considerably
inferior to the label choice.
What's the BPM?
GO!
Next chorus...
Thank you very much have a nice fucking day!
I was 21 years old and I would do anything
in order to be able to play music for a living.
But I had made the choice to give up.
I realized I had missed my boat.
I had made plans to sell all of my gear,
I didn't want to have any like, memory of the music life.
The next day, after like, making this choice,
is when I got the call to see if
I was interested in auditioning
for Thirty Seconds to Mars.
I'm like completely broke. I have no money,
I have nothing at all. I have a guitar
and some crappy gear. And I begged my parents,
I was like, this is the one, I can feel it.
I know, I'm gonna get this.
No matter what, nothing gonna stop me from getting this,
I will die if I don't get this.
We're auditioning like hundreds of people.
He walks in and he says:
"I just want to let you guys know
you don't have to look any further..."
I was so cocky and so stupid.
It could have gone so badly, the way I was acting.
I was like, alright, well, see what you got.
They took a chance on me.
I wasn't the coolest looking kid.
I certainly wasn't the best guitarist out there
but there was obviously something that they saw in me.
Re-signing with EMI, gets rid of 2 Million Dollars of all debt
and gets rid of the Thirty Million Dollars lawsuit
but that fucking pissing me this won (I know)
and it's not even the fight
to fight to beat somebody.
It's the fight to... to... for what's right, what's fair!
You sign a deal in a way to compromise
but you're doing it so that
you could get in on the inside,
work with somebody
and change the fundamentals
that way rather than a confrontation.
Yeah, changing from the inside out.
Exactly.
Or do you confront it from the outside?
We would never have this opportunity again
to fight over the 7-year clause
and to go and like, change a part of...
Absolutely.
Not just the music business
but you know, the way that our
contracts are handled.
So there is this kind of... You know...
... Moral crusade.
Yeah, there's a bit of a moral crusade.
If they give us every single fucking thing
that we wanted
they would still be winning
and they know it!
That's the thing they're fuckin' know it!
And by the way, what the Fuck! What if they give a shit,
they gonna go home and get their salary
at the end of the night.
They're getting everything that they want.
Complete domination over the artist.
Just be careful you know, addict...
Addicted is a strong word, to be the person
that is always gonna be in battle.
Maybe this is not the right time to fight this
through this mechanism. Just bide your time.
It might well be a different way to fight it.
But you don't have to sacrifice as much.
The Company can always outlast the act.
We learn this lesson primarily with Georges Michael.
He killed his career suing Sony, okay.
So, the act has an incentive to settle
because acts are not like engineers at IBM
who might work for 40 years.
Prince was pissed off at Warner Brothers
and stopped recording that's when
he changed his name to that symbol.
It was a protest against Warner Brothers.
So, was that the right thing?
You know, at the kind of his height, to go sit on the sidelines
and then go make music how many every years later
when people don't want to fight about it anymore?
I don't know. Who won? Who lost?
I just remember the whole time thinking:
It's not a good idea to go into a pissing contest
with the record company,
who has, who holds all the cards.
It's like a war of attrition.
It's like, whoever wears the other person down first
is going to win.
Usually the company they want to teach the act a lesson,
but they also need the revenue.
So, assuming the act is willing to sit
on the sidelines for a year or two,
they can ultimately make a better deal.
Hopefully they've not lost momentum in the process.
Do you think as a corporation EMI
ever lied to you?
Erm... Do I think EMI ever lied to us?
I am...
I'm seeking not to get sued by 30 Million bucks,
So, I can't tell you or not how they are inside.
I mean that's the only condition of
our release that I got to be a good boy.
So, give me some council here, my friend.
What am I doing?
Jesus Christ!
... It's getting worse.
I think I just caught your cold!
Okay, what's your advice here
as an expert in the music industry?
To me... To me... I think that...
I'm taking into account
what you guys are saying,
I think EMI is the safe bet.
Because, like I told you before,
I think you're doing one album for them
and you'll be done with them.
So, that's what I would do it's safer,
the other thing is riskier.
If you want to take a risk.
Got it.
No, it's how you feel, how you
and Shannon and Tomo feel about it.
Okay bye.
Thanks. Hey?!...
I wanted to ask how much that phone call costs me.
(Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow) Dean Martin
It seems funny getting a Christmas tree
when it's totally sunny outside
and the guy is in a tee-shirt.
Hey! These are all the thrifty, she says,
these are the Charlie Browns.
The ones that have like, you know, broken branches.
Yeah!
Yeah.
I think this one is pretty fucking funny.
This is all fucked up man, there is no way they even...
It says 99 bucks, I ain't paying 20 bucks for that.
20 bucks. He's got, look,
arthritis on the knuckle right here.
His hair are falling out.
OMG. Rheumatoid.
He's got short man's complex.
How much you gonna pay us to drag this out of here.
I mean look at this thing.
I know, it's so sad.
I mean this is the ugliest tree
I have ever seen in my entire life.
How much you take?
19.99
19!
All right, we'll take it...
Where do you want to put this bad boy?
In the corner?
That was a bargain.
She was tall, dark, handsome.
Listen...
She was tall...
Okay... She was tall, dark, handsome...
The cigarette gets me in character. I can't help it.
She was tall, dark, handsome,
hung like a wildebeest...
Ohhh... We've been sued for 30 Million bucks.
Ahhh... We really are...
We really are.
What if they just said: "Fuck you! This is done,
We're taking you to court."
She was tall, dark, handsome,
hung like a wildebeest but I loved her.
How you're gonna restructure Guy, just tell us?
Why are the job cuts necessary Guy?
What's your message to staff Guy?
EMI news's owner Guy Hands was tight lipped
as he arrived at the cinema
to outline the music group's new direction.
Inside staff learned that EMI is set
to axe up to 2000 jobs.
They stripped mine the place.
They fired tons and tons of people.
They put people in charge
that never had any experience in the record business
or the music business.
They started to decentralize it.
They had all this strange pods
instead of a more traditional structure.
They also put some people in positions of power
who didn't make any sense to me whatsoever.
I see it all the time.
It is just the heavy hand of guys,
who don't understand the business,
who try to tell people,
who do understand the business,
how to do their jobs.
I met with him once and he said to me:
"All you people from the music business.
You know you really don't know how to run a business."
They installed a lot of people
across the global leadership of the company.
And most people see at management levels.
And these groups serious record company executives
were gone instead in a matter of month.
Obviously, I have a certain bias
and I was there and I was very vocal
about any of my disagreements.
They wanted to restructure the company
and in the terms of my contract,
they couldn't without asking me
and so, they did it anyway.
In the old days, you say what is EMI thinking,
you would name 10 people that have worked there
for 20 years or 30 years.
You'd worry about what they thought
but there's nobody that's worked there for 20 years or 30 years.
It's not the company or the people it ever was.
We have been through so many regimes at EMI
since we signed a contract with Virgin Records.
I can't even tell you how many it has been.
It is safe to say it is over eight less than twelve.
I don't think there is a single employee
that was there when we signed our record deal.
We would take care of the lawsuit.
That's already cost me more money than I have,
than we have as a band.
We've spent more money that we have in the bank.
Right!
No, I understand
I'm gonna have to tell them:
they can suck my fucking proverbial dick!
So, in a sense, EMI has already bankrupted us.
Kempler really is controlling this?
No, the money guys are controlling it.
You know Terra Firma...
Well fuck them! That's such bullshit!
How could that motherfucking *bip* *bip*
can sit there and tell us
that he was gonna do something
and then not do it?
Across the pond, it's Guy Hands,
and here in America, it's Jeff Kempler and I think
that he is either trying to show off for Guy Hands
and he thinks that he's gonna strangle all this.
We have other options.
I, myself I'm ready to go all the way.
They're acting like they're so ready and happy
and willing to just go into litigation
that I'm having to prepare the battle plan.
I think everyone is getting lost in the deal
and not seeing what a benefit
it probably could be to me and to them,
for us to work out something fair and reasonable.
But I can't do, I just can't do it
if it's not fair. I can't do it and
feel I've been taking advantage of?
Okay, so what's the next move here?
What's up?
We need you again... (Okay)
I thought that was gonna be an easy song.
(yeah) I actually didn't think
it was gonna be an easy song,
I knew it's gonna be a pain in the fucking ass!
Em. Can we try... Em. Just... You know?
Sure... It's huh... Pretty fast.
Is it better one foot or two?
One, I think.
It's so weird, it's so fast.
It's very awkward.
Jesus Christ!
You know what you want, man!
I need power... Need power...
It's not enough at one.
I got it brother, my brother. Right?
We will work with this.
We'll call you in a minute.
I don't know.
I have no idea.
What about a little bit of like:
Some days you feel so strong
and then, other days, you're like:
what the fuck am I doing?
I'm wondering if I'm ruining it?
Am I fucking it all up for Shannon and Tomo?
Some days, I feel so confident, so strong,
I'm like: it doesn't matter
this album is gonna be so good,
the songs are gonna be so great.
It doesn't matter what label we are,
we're gonna reach people but you need the help.
You need... You can't do it on your own.
And the other days, you just feel like:
what the fuck are we doing?
And I don't know,
maybe I'm fucked up to keep fighting.
I've had one successful record.
And I'm fighting like,
I am the Rolling fucking Stones.
But who the fuck am I?
It's a fucking nightmare, man,
this whole thing is a fucking nightmare.
I mean, all of this could be a year from now,
I mean, looking back and say: "Wow, I fucked up!
I didn't sign with the label,
the record sold 12 fucking copies."
I put everything that I have into this.
My entire life, everything. We all have.
You don't want to get through
all this fucking legal thing.
And you don't win anything.
If it was like a pot of gold
at the end of that rainbow, I'll do it...
The win is: you don't lose anything.
Hey, that's your win!
The win is that you get to pay the legal fees.
That's what your win is.
That's the win...
You look to have some fun.
I haven't talked to Kempler in 6 months.
Let's call him. Your lawsuit...
Hey! Brenna, call Jeff Kempler.
I'm gonna have trouble being nice, seriously...
Hey guys, I'm in the bathroom at the airport,
so it's a little loud.
It's probably a little cold, too.
Any place where it's cold for you makes me happy
It's Irving.
You sound like a corporate fucking dick,
let's just talk about the deal.
The reality of fact is that: it's, you know,
it's really hard to advise these guys
to do anything with that piece of shit of a company
that you work for, and say yes, say no, go away man,
just go away, if you don't want to do this.
And before they fucking sell the company out
from under you guys, put out the record.
Okay.
But fly safe anyway. Bye.
Right. By the way just side issue. (Yes.)
How is the record company?
What?
I just want to feel good.
This all negotiations, it doesn't feel good.
It's not supposed to feel good.
No.
This whole thing. You've got the unstable time.
You've got the unstable EMI.
You've got the unstable maverick way.
The thing... It's all unstable.
So, there's no feeling that's gonna be attached,
to like: "Oh! Yeah..."
Then you've got the album we're doing
and you've got everything, dude.
It's a little unstable, you know.
Managers who are standing up
and say they are very very worried
about the instability at EMI.
Major acts like Radiohead and
Paul McCartney parted ways with the company.
And I just said to my producers,
I said I want to feel excited
by releasing this record.
It's just a mess.
They're trying to manipulate us
with a little bit of fear.
They're pulling deals out from under our feet,
they're fucking with us, they're toying,
they're sending eMails, letters
just outright hostile.
The shakeup at EMI reportedly has Coldplay
rethinking a future deal with the label.
Robbie Williams's manager has been quoted as saying:
"The star is in no rush to put out a new album
due to a lack of faith in the new management."
Today marks the deadline for Hands
to meet a payment to Citigroup,
one of its creditors, or
he'll lose control of the firm.
These people that they say one thing
and that they do another thing.
It's disgusting that they do business like this.
They wonder why they have a bad fucking name.
It's because they treat people like fucking shit.
They deserve the fucking disaster
that they are in the middle of.
Walking out before I break shit.
You know you've got to guide me here,
I'm heel over my head, I don't know what to do.
Huh, I don't know either.
It's amazing how this fucked-up-lawsuit
is taking over our lives.
I feel like fuck we should just take
the god damn deal, whatever it is
just fucking take it,
what if everything got worse?
This part of the record is always really
really really important for me.
It's like the backing tracks are there,
they've got a lot of strong personality.
It doesn't matter whether it's good or bad.
It could be fast, it could be slow,
but they've all got some sort of essence to them
that makes the songs stand out.
And now, it's like filling in,
it's coloring the picture.
And I think that's the part
that has been missing from you.
I have to say: holy fuck!
That's how I feel today.
You don't have like undeniable.
No, we don't right now as we speak, No!
I'll sit here for another year,
I'll Chinese democracy this motherfucker
if I have to. It doesn't matter.
I know exactly what you're talking about
and this is quite usual at this stage of making a record.
You're now in the place where you're doubting everything.
Everything is sort of plateauing and fundamentally,
there is nothing that's getting your juices going.
And what I suggest is
that we need to look at the whole thing,
because...
We're definitely missing a song
I can tell you that right now.
No, I agree with you.
So, it might be that
that has to be a period of just like:
okay, we are missing this,
we do need to do another song
but maybe it hasn't been written.
But without at least getting
some of these other songs into point
you're not going to know what you're missing.
I hope that this is mid... You know,
the midlife crisis of the record,
but I don't know, I mean, we have to question everything.
It's the morning, early early morning,
it's still dark out and
we have decided to get out of Los Angeles.
And go to Florida.
I just couldn't face not doing something
for fucking New Year's Eve.
We've been going at it all fucking year.
I want to dance this week.
You're gonna see a dancing fool.
Ditto.
I need breakfast before I face this shit.
Everybody took a break.
Shannon went to Hawaii,
Tomo went to Michigan.
I feel like, there's a lot up in the air
and it was serendipitous
that the holiday break came at the time
when there was this make-or-break kind of place
we happen to be in,
for the record,
for the creative parts of the album,
for the lawsuit.
Ready? She thinks you are Jared Leto.
She told me to come here
and ask you if you're Jared Leto?
Mmmm. Yep.
You are? Serious?
Yep.
Are you just fucking with us?
No... How you doing?
I knew it.
What's up?
You don't think: oh, it's Miami,
there's gonna be all these people
taking pictures on the beach.
Michael Jackson!
So, we escaped
and went to some alligator farm or something...
There's nothing like starting your new year in a swamp.
600 000 jobs lost in January.
The DOW is already down 2000 points.
This is the Frank Lloyd Wright house.
I thought that would be a great place for us
to record and would be really inspiring.
You know what's exciting,
we're gonna have the spirit of this house inside the record.
This is a living, breathing piece of art.
Art, it's something we all aspire our work to be.
Some people can do whatever they think of.
And what they think of is special
and moves other people. Those people are artists.
It's their bare honest truth
about something that they love.
I think it's one of the avenues
to get to oneself to find out who we are.
Timeless art is the most difficult form of art.
I see it in the Chrysler building,
I see it in the Concorde.
I hear it in the Beatles...
The business is, I hate all those people,
those people are leeches.
All they ever do is care about not losing their job.
They never once care about enhancing the value of art.
One of the problems we have in business at large right now
is corporations own these businesses.
So, it's very difficult to change it ever
because it has to be this machine that keeps going.
The other part of the problem is that
the business itself has homogenized the process.
The record company tells a band what to write,
how to write it, who to write with.
You know. What is gonna be a single,
what's not gonna be a single.
And I think has far too much control on a creative level.
So, that everything starts sounding very much the same.
That's a pendulum. I think.
What inevitably happens is
that companies that are wrestling with that
creative, intuitive, blended with science,
they swing way too far to the
lets-be-scientific-and-mathematical.
Sort of throw the baby out with the bath water
and lose that comfort with intuition,
creative sensitivities
and mistakes get made that way.
The record companies keep consolidating
and so, there's less of them
and that's dictated by the fact
that it is a business and as business shrinks
and there is less people buying music.
What do the record companies do?
They cut cost. So, as a result of that
you have less places for artists to go,
less people getting signed.
I don't think it ever ends...
I don't think it ever ends.
I've been in this business 19 years
and it was going on, the day I started
and it's going on now, you know.
I don't know that art and commerce
ever get married like that.
Hello!
Jared they're grabbing Irving
Nobody told us what they were gonna do.
They wouldn't meet with us.
They don't like us!
Yeah, I'm beginning not to like them very much either.
Documentary changes your own music?
Yeah, I don't understand how
that even happened.
I don't even know why we brought this up.
We shouldn't have never even brought it up.
No, I mean he would have say "no" later,
you had to bring it up.
You couldn't have just put the music in...
You had to say... You know what I mean?
So, if there is a shot of me sitting
and playing one of my songs
on the piano, at the house,
I'll have to get permission from EMI
in order to release this documentary?
Correct. They're basically gonna say that
we have a contract ready for 2 more albums,
so this is a settlement of that contract
and under that old contract
you couldn't put any music in the DVD without them,
they own the mere music, not you.
And the way they've worded it,
did they have like final cut over this thing?
They're like: we need to see a copy of it
and then we'll talk about it
if we're gonna license you the music for it,
is that basically how it is?
Yeah, they're trying to make you abandon the project.
Trying to get me abandon the film.
Yep. So, let's have a call.
Okay.
Bye.
It all comes down.
So basically, you sell the film
for the record deal.
Or you just take EMI out of the film.
Cause then they'll say:
"Sure, we'll let you put it out."
What's up girls? Hello?
To me, there is quite two factions in this company.
There's one that just doesn't want to make a deal with you
and there's one that does want to make a deal with you.
It's a further slap in the face to say
you can't do the documentary.
It makes no rational financial sense.
I think I go back to them and say,
we own the documentary
and we can do what we want with it.
Could you reiterate that there's more to life out there
than a bloated failing corporation?
Aaahh Fuck... What a day. What-a-day!
Could have been worse:
the record company could have told us
to go fuck ourselves. Oh wait! They just did.
EMI should be ashamed of themselves.
They came back with their offer today.
As soon we're getting somewhere,
some giant fucking moron at the company, thinks
they're gonna control and own this.
But guess what? They can kiss my fucking ass!
It's over. We are not doing that.
Just talked to Irving. Fucking idiots, man.
Good.
Greedy fucking corporate hubris.
We suggested a meeting, right?
So, we can all sit face to face
and not get lost in the deal
and to be human about things.
They said no. Just so you know.
They said no, they think
they're gonna own that piece of music with me
just diddling on the piano.
I'll do it right now just for fun.
That's not yours, not mine.
No, it's just ludicrous.
Selling recorded music that's the record.
And that's historically the only thing
that a record label records cared about.
Until that's stopped making money.
If Thirty Seconds to Mars started today,
they'd have an even worse deal
than they originally signed
cause they'd have what they called the 360 deal,
they'd have to give away a piece of their merchandising
and their touring, to get their record deal.
Thank god, we didn't get stuck in one of those deals.
360 deal is when a record label participates
in all revenue streams of an artist.
Typically touring, merchandise,
could be publishing, licensing opportunities,
endorsement opportunities.
It's a direct response to the fact
that no one is selling 10 Million records anymore.
Even when you have a big hit,
they're not as big as they used to be.
So, if you are going to invest big money
in making an artist famous
then, you've got to find more ways to collect.
The argument I had on one of these deals is they said:
"- Okay, if my client has a baby and sells baby pictures,
do you participate in that? - Well yes."
Over the last 18 months,
90% of the deals that have been,
you know, signed by EMI,
have an extended amount of rights,
if they are not 360, they're, you know, 280...
or something... Whatever... You know.
So yes, definitely, definitely more.
Everyone wants 360 now as far as labels.
Majors at least.
Indies are still not necessarily all 360, you know.
Some do some don't.
So, how does it help an artist?
Well, it doesn't.
You've got no leverage,
you're a band just starting out
and neither a label will take this off the table,
so, so what do you do?
For a band to do a 360 deal, well,
now, they're turning over their real cash prize.
Which is their ability to make money touring
and make money in selling merchandise.
What do labels typically take from a 360?
You know, they vary depending on...
I've seen as much as 10 to 25% of the artist's piece.
You know, I've seen some of the television
star deals go as high as 50%. Pretty crazy.
They've just got this entire plantation mentality,
they should own everything that an artist does
and I've never been comfortable with that.
I just really hate that.
I don't need your permission as a record company owner
to go do, you know, things like movies or TV shows.
Screw you guys !
After we rejected their last offer,
EMI finally agreed to sit down face to face
so, that we could try to work something out.
So, I got on a plane and headed to New York.
We've been fighting for a long time already
and there wasn't a lot of communication going on
with us and the label directly.
Let's say virtually none.
It's freezing out!
I always loved this city ever since I was a kid,
it's been a magical place for me.
Every time I come to New York, I'm excited.
I feel like this is my city in a weird way.
More than LA is. There's something about it.
Always an adventure.
Wait, wait, you're in a movie. I know you.
You're famous, aren't you?
Erm... Yeah... Kind of...
You were in that very cool movie (Sometimes…)
with the crazy lady.
Yeah, yeah, Requiem for a Dream.
Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god... Etc. (Hi)
You're in my favorite mov… (How is it going?)
Oh my god, I'm gonna cry.
You are in my favorite movie in the whole...
I love that movie.
Thank you.
Oh my god, oh my god...
What's in that drink?
Extra caffeine?
It's the big meeting Sunday.
It's was nice to be in New York.
I had a chance to get away from the studio
and see some friends.
But the main focus of the trip was this meeting.
I was excited that there was a chance to work things out.
Unfortunately...
EMI canceled...
It was a long way to go
to get stood up, but while I was in New York
I heard that there were major changes happening
at the label once again and
that any possibility of a deal with EMI
was very unlikely.
Oh! I like that... What he is playing.
Gonna tell them I like that.
Did you record that?
No, no, the regular one.
Huh? No, no, I like the beginning
how you just played that.
Yeah.
It's fucking fucking because it's off.
It gets off.
You just got to listen to the click you're good.
Hold on a second.
It's fine. You just got to keep on that beat.
That's the thing.
I'm playing to the click but it's going slower. (Yeah, I know)
but you're right with the click
so it's really hard.
You know you got to be like a machine.
Ahhhh! Humans!
You hear that the slicer is not with the click?
Right?
You want me to play that?
Yeah, go ahead, yeah, please do.
Prove me that the slicer is not slowing down!
I'll prove it right now. Where is my goddam pick?
That's it... Use his pull-off... Use my other thing...
It's like the performances between the two
are good enough so...
Oh yeah... The elbow, baby!
The fucking elbow! Woo...
Here we come motherfucker! Yeah!
What else we...
Don't you just want to make something that lives forever?
Something that's phenomenal? Something that's great?
Something that's undeniable?
That touches the core of every person that hears it?
Yeah! (You know)
Yeah. You want to make something beautiful,
something moving, something provocative,
something that's pure and true.
We're doing that.
I hope so.
All along EMI had been interested in resigning us.
The problem was they kept offering us
different variations of the same terrible deal.
We decided we would consider resigning with EMI
if they were willing to make things right.
Especially as it would put an end
to this brutal lawsuit and ensure
that our album would see the light a day.
So, we went back to them one last time
and basically told them:
"Look, these are our final terms and conditions,
either meet them
or there really isn't anything left to talk about."
EMI responded saying they'd get back to us in 24 hours
with their official final response.
It's a little weird we haven't heard from EMI.
No word from EMI.
We're waiting for one finale response.
Aaahh...
...And... Nothing!
Still no word from EMI.
We're gonna hear from them tomorrow.
Tomorrow is the day.
It's not bad.
Tomorrow, which is what we've been told again,
and again, and again, and again, etc.
That it was tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow, tomorrow...
Jesus Christ!
Please someone just shut that fucking dog up.
Maybe he's pissed too?
EMI told him he's gonna get his dog food tomorrow.
We should have something tomorrow, tomorrow, etc.
It's like the guy in the movie, you know.
Tooooomorrrrrrow. It's ridiculous.
EMI.
Holly shit.
EMI caved.
"I think we are done, capital D.O.N.E.
Press release to be mutually approved
but that can happened quickly after signing,
meanwhile could you get an approved quote from Jared
and we will send you a draft.
Thanks to all, now the real work starts."
Now we have to decide.
So Shannon, Tomo and I got together and debated,
discussed and made a decision.
EMI came to us and offered us
the deal we were fighting for.
So, we accepted.
Is it really Friday the thirteen?
It is pretty brave, bold and stupid of them
to actually make a deal with a band,
even if it's us, without having heard the record.
But at the same time, they knew
there's not a chance in a fucking hell
I was gonna play them a single second of this record.
You have to do what's best for the music at this point.
I think what's best for the music is resigning with EMI
and putting a record out.
Your goal on this album
is to have many people as possible buy that.
You have to consider your career.
It's all about your career.
So, what do you think we should do?
I think you should sign this thing,
get your record out there
and get back to your career away from courts.
What do you think we should do?
You should absolutely sign this deal right now
and then go back to the studio and keep working.
Yeah.
It's amazing that at the same time
we're trying making a deal, the world is falling apart.
Look, you've got seven or eight years
of the record business just going straight to the dumper
and then, six great months ago,
the rest of the world went with the record business.
Everything is in the dumper now.
So, why don' I feel like we should be celebrating?
Because it's the record business,
there's really nothing to celebrate
about the record business,
because it's a dying business.
And especially on an international level
where you guys, you're gonna sell 70% of your records
cause more records still sell overseas.
You know, you gotta have one of these, guys.
And this is the one you get without a lawsuit.
Jared, you were very idealistic and
you wanted to write the wrongs of the record business
and you're not gonna have your chance to see it before
it shines a light on the corruption of the music business
or take it down, but it's going down anyway.
That's the problem.
It's hard to stop fighting sometimes. (Much tougher)
How do you stop fighting?
How can you do that?
Because they're all fired.
This, by the way, is one contract.
Take a deep breath, man.
The deal that we made was a very favorable one
and a much better deal that Thirty Second to Mars had.
The goal of the litigation is to accomplish
whatever goal you got the litigation for.
I don't think that the court room
is a really good place for artists to be.
I think they're better off in the studios.
The real battle is the clock starts.
You got to finish the record.
Mmmm... Yeah.
Try to get this show on the road.
And no excuses.
Have you finished with this song yet?
So, the new contract with EMI says
that we have three weeks left to finish.
The clock is ticking.
Is there any kind of methodology
that you know about to increase the productivity
of the remaining days we have here?
So, Guy Hands stepped down today.
Oh, did he?!
That definitely means there's some shit shifting
and changing around.
Breaking news, Citigroup taking ownership
of one of the world's leading music companies.
Guys Hands is from Terra Firma, acquired EMI
with a lot of debt and the numbers
never made a lot of sense and so?
here we are with Citigroup taking control of EMI.
The decline and demolishment of EMI
is a sad 21st century story of failure.
He was running a whole company
that categorically he was incapable of running.
Obviously it turned out to be a tremendous mistake
bought at the wrong time.
He really believed he was gonna transform it
and then sell it. I don't think he thought,
that he would own it and then, lose it.
What EMI now is, it's a bump sitting on Citibank
balance sheet, waiting to be removed from their balance sheet
and sold to the next sucker.
There is no killer App. to turn around a record company.
It has to be done slowly and patiently and it takes time.
It takes time to break artist,
it takes time to sign artist,
and it takes time to get the right executives in.
I think that guy, and I wouldn't say this to his face...
Hum... He is a very bright guy
who unfortunately had the popular misimpression
that the music business is populated by idiots and thieves.
We've got our fair share of them,
but there's a lot smart, good people in the business.
Just because the guy is a billionaire
and he's made a bunch of money in other businesses,
you know... We have a long list of people
from outside the music business that have come
and entered the business and left it in ruins.
And he is the biggest fool of all of them.
You know what I think?
What?
I think we're gonna finish this song tonight.
Pretty good one.
Let's call it finished.
Woo! High five! Yeah!
Woo! Come on! Don't leave me hanging, boys!
The future of the music business is unknown.
That's what makes it exciting to some
and really scary to others.
Because people can record in their houses
and distribute overnight.
I believe that music can reclaim
its space as the driving medium.
There is change, there's evolution.
If you don't ride the change, you die.
Jared always jokes that some kid is gonna write a song
and he's gonna figure it out
and is gonna sell hundreds millions copies of a single
by himself and he's gonna make a Billion Dollars
and he's gonna say: "fuck you,
I don't need you." And then,
that's gonna be the new beginning.
People listen to more music now
than ever before, from a bigger
diversity of artists.
So, I think culturally, we are in a much better place.
I look at it and I actually think
that we are at sort of entering the golden age for music.
I love the idea that we may, in this next generation,
not be living in a world of the possibility of,
you know, being successful is,
that you have to be Michael Jackson, Madonna,
Prince, Lady Gaga but, that actually like:
the dream of being musician means,
you can just make a living and connect with people
and make your music and not have to have a job you hate.
Music will never die.
It will always drive industry,
it will always drive innovation,
it will be always be available to everyone
and everyone always is going to want it.
It doesn't really matter what the critic says
or the gatekeeper says,
really, in this day and age of the music industry,
the new gatekeepers are the fans.
If you have 5 Million people downloading your album for free,
that's still 5 Million people you've touched.
and has a value to me that's far greater than money.
How many people have a copy
of our new record "This is War?"
And how many people stole that copy off the internet?