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Re: Bumblefoot not happy? Speculating....
Incompetent people can't renegotiate record contracts; especially when they have nothing to offer.
Axl has something to offer...last I checked he had something to do with the back catalog and ownership of the brand name. He has more leverage than you think...in my opinion.
Re: Bumblefoot not happy? Speculating....
russtcb wrote:buzzsaw wrote:Incompetent people can't renegotiate record contracts; especially when they have nothing to offer.
This.
"Management" can want to get a new album out all they want, but they do not possess any bargaining chips with which to do so.
Now if they can talk Robin into coming back, then they might have something.
Re: Bumblefoot not happy? Speculating....
buzzsaw wrote:Incompetent people can't renegotiate record contracts; especially when they have nothing to offer.
Axl has something to offer...last I checked he had something to do with the back catalog and ownership of the brand name. He has more leverage than you think...in my opinion.
What leverage does he have?
The record company already has the back catalog, the last album dropped off the face of the earth after a couple weeks of strong sales, best buy couldn't give copies away for $1.99 after holding them for some time, etc. Unless he has gold hidden somewhere (highly unlikely), his vision for GnR has been seen and it was largely unimpressive. Over time, it's become even less impressive, and the music is now at least 10 years old.
I suppose he could sell a few box sets of the CD recordings, but that's not something many people are going to fork out big bucks for.
He can keep touring and releasing nothing. I don't think the record company cares. They got 1 record in 10 years (maybe 3 in 20 if you count GH and live era). They did nothing to market CD at all. They don't seem to be too concerned about rushing anything to make a quick buck.
The ONLY thing Axl really has of value is the unlikely reunion. The record company knows that. There's nothing to renegotiate. As far as the record industry goes, they own the name, not Axl. Axl can't release anything under the GnR name without their approval. So yes, he owns the name, but they own him until the terms of the contract are fulfilled. The record company isn't going to put out CDII and a live album and let Axl go on his way. There is no chance that they risk losing the only thing of value they have for a few dollars from subpar GnR.
Re: Bumblefoot not happy? Speculating....
They have to go through him at some point to release anything semi new from the back catalog....stuff like remasters of AFD, UYI...re-releases with bonus tracks, demos, etc. At some point, they will want to go the route of Pink Floyd, Zep, Stones etc and put out "anniversary editions" of Gnr's catalog. If they play ball with Axl now, he may be more amicable to releasing videos and recordings from the past...yes, that is gold. It's a two way street. And, we have no earthly idea what Gnr's current status is with the label...no clue what he owes or doesn't owe. Everything changed with the release of Chinese.
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Re: Bumblefoot not happy? Speculating....
Incompetent people can't renegotiate record contracts; especially when they have nothing to offer.
As I see, the Lebeis family has been professionally managing their own interest for quite a while... As soon as they realize that they need Axl to release new stuff to fund their luxury, they'll convince the redhead to ease on the situation.
On the other hand selling 1,000,000 copies of a new GN'R album, selling a shitload from the back catalogue, keeping the brand alive and keeping the brand in their pocket is still a better deal for Universal than freezing Axl into hybernation, losing the potential new sales (which would be still better than most of the artists'), risking Axl walking off someway or going back to Malibu and not releasing shit anymore and risking the sales of the back catalogue. Cause like it or not, believe it or not, the numbers would be much worse if this version of GN'R (and Slash) weren't still promoting classic GN'R.
Re: Bumblefoot not happy? Speculating....
I don't know...the record company has sat on their hands for a long time and seems to have no issues continuing to do so. I hear what you're saying, but that's in a normal world.
Think about this...they released CD and made NO effort to do anything to market it. How interested in keeping the brand alive do you really think they are? There is no risk in Axl walking away and going back to Malibu. That changes nothing for them; it's business as it's been for the past 20 years.
Re: Bumblefoot not happy? Speculating....
If Axl didn't still make them money UNI would have dropped GN'R already. If we're going by what BUzz says, and I understand what he's saying, there's zero reason to keep him on the roster. They should have dropped him 4 years ago.
