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| Anita Baker at the Lincoln 2.0 Festival, 2009 |
Haven't posted here in six months' time, having focused on the sister blogs and my life, but the time has come to write about an artist I remember from growing up that I don't listen to or hear from often, this time being soul legend Anita Baker. Four years ago, she was able to get back her masters from Warner Music Group, where was signed to Elektra Records (transferred to sister label Atlantic in the mid-'90s when for AC/DC and Yes, it was the other way around until the parent company spun off of Time Warner in 2004 and the former moved to Sony and A&R queen Sylvia Rhone to Universal). While the dispute was a couple years ago, it took six months to settle. Warner has divested other artists this past decade since buying Parlophone from EMI. The past three years saw artists and songwriters selling their rights. Baker is setting a new precedent by getting them back. I asked the crystal ball which label would put out the remasters, and it would be Craft, the reissue label at Concord, one of the largest independents in the world, which also acquired Natalie Cole, REM, Jewel, Violent Femmes and Collective Soul from WMG. Nothing officially confirmed, of course, so more as this develops.
