Why Can't Morrissey Get a Record Deal?

A Plea to Jack White & Third Man Records

After reading Amanda Palmer of The Dresden Doll's, open letter to Morrissey encouraging him to use the self funding site Kickstarter to finance a new record, I wanted to learn more about why exactly Morrissey can't get a record deal. Morrissey has previously stated that he is “too institutionalized” to release an album on his own using the “Radiohead method”, but he has millions of extremely loyal fans across the globe that would jump at the chance to hear new material from him. I'm no record executive but it seems like a veteran artist with a built in fan base would be a “no-brainer” to sign. Upon further research it seems to me that the major record companies are going about selling records in completely the wrong ways. Shocker.

Morrissey did actually have an offer from Sony, which he talked about in a 2012 interview with Australia's Hearld Sun, “I was recently approached by Sony, but the offer was so poor that I'd end up paying for everything with my own personal finances yet splitting the profit with the label. It doesn't make sense.” This is a standard technique that big record companies use to maximize profits while abusing their artists. Courtney Love shed some light on the subject in a 2006 rant, “it's quite rare for a recording artist to ever see a dime of royalties from selling music. The label gives the band an "advance" which really isn't that much, and then uses some funky accounting tricks to claim all of the band's royalties as paying off that advance as well as covering other fees involved in the marketing and distribution of the album”. In the case of 30 Seconds to Mars vs Virgin/EMI, despite selling 2 million records, EMI claimed that the band has $1.4 million to pay back. Lead singer Jared Leto explains, “If you think the fact that we have sold in excess of 2 million records and have never been paid a penny is pretty unbelievable, well, so do we. And the fact that EMI informed us that not only aren't they going to pay us AT ALL but that we are still 1.4 million dollars in debt to them is even crazier. That the next record we make will be used to pay off that old supposed debt just makes you start wondering what is going on.” It seems like Moz was wise in passing on one of these shady deals. He may not have a record, but at least he doesn't have a lawsuit.

Morrissey told the Guardian that he thinks that record companies aren't interested in him because he's “too old”. “[Majors] are only interested in very young people who will fly by and ask for nothing in return." To an extent this is true, but it seems record companies are only interested in you if you are willing to sell your songs for commercial usage and in shows like “Glee” and “X-Factor” and young artists are more willing to do just that. If the studios think that they can make money off of you, that is much more important than great songs or incredible talent. As Morrissey puts it, “I mean, look at the Grammys -- most of those winners actually have no popularity with the public.”

That last statement makes me wonder how many records Morrissey has sold versus someone like say Rihanna. What I found was, I have no way of knowing this. There is no Box Office Mojo for record sales. The best we have is the Recording Industry Association of America's gold and platinum certifications which are in fact based on how many albums were shipped to retailers rather than how many are sold to customers. This means that if an album ships 1 million records it can be certified as platinum even if it actually only sells one hundred thousand copies. Tricky, tricky but a good way to build up hype for a sub-par artist in order to make money on the back end licensing music.

After all this, I understand why a major label and Morrissey may not be a good fit, but what about an independent label? Jack White's Third Man Records have recorded and released albums with artists as varied as Loretta Lynn, Beck and Conan O'Brien. Morrissey could record with Jack in Tennessee and promote the occasion with an appearance at Bonnaroo.

So this is my plea to Jack White, “Dear Jack White: You have a record label, Morrissey needs a record label. 1 + 1 = a success for all involved. Especially for Morrissey's legions of fans who would gladly pay $10 to hear a new album from everyone's favorite vegetarian. Thank you for your time, consideration and amazing musical catalog”.