Viral agent gets rapped by record label

The Universal Music manager who threatened to stop a singer’s record contract was warned today by Deutsche Grammophon not to wield its name as a blunt weapon against artists, according to senior label sources. DG also assured the singer concerned that their next recording together will go ahead as planned.

The agent, whose emailed threat has gone viral since I blogged it up this morning, is keeping a very low profile. As well he might.

His conduct exposes a dangerous flaw in Universal’s plan to offer ‘360-degree management’ to artists, covering all their activities, live and recorded. By telling a singer who wanted to leave him that his contract would be voided by a Universal record label, the agent gave the unfortunate impression that the company owned the artist, body and soul, and could wreck a career at the stroke of a pen.

It serves due warning to others to keep the different parts of their lives in separate baskets.

Meanwhile, the classical agency business remains in furious flux, with further defections expected early next week.