Boxset not even confirmed according to Richie :(

It depends on a contract, how many albums they have left. Usually a greatest hits is the last album to the record company, in which case they might be out of contract, as TLFR fills that.


Ice

Let`s cross our fingers then....

These days was the last they did with polygram so since we've had

Crush
OWN
Bounce
TLFR

they'll either have signed a 5 or 7 record deal so they've got at least 1 album 2 do for universal at best but thats counting on OWN and tlfr being classed as proper albums by the label who might want studio albums.

Bon Jovi are in the position where they are able to negotiate more. It's not certain they have a 5-record deal, they might have a 3+1 deal also. That would explain the mess with Yokohama/TLFR and now the box set.

Ice

They tried to start their own indie label in 1990 or so. Remember Jambco?
I think even some of Bon Jovi's European releases were put out through that label. I wonder if it's still active.

they can negotiate more on the financial side as in how much of a cut they get and the record company don;t get so to speak and how much an advance they'll get per record but you can be pretty sure the minimum they've signed for is a 5 albumd eal and even if they have singed for 3, Universal will be on 1st refusal after that.

recors company don't want artists to be creative in the artistic way, they want fast money & quick hits. releasing a boxset won't be interesting for universal. boxsets are made for long time fans, not for people who only look at mtv.
considering the last troubles with the label (OWN= simple album, tlfr, boxset, not many singles, no promotion), we can say that BJ wants too much from universal at this point. there're in a position where they can sit and wait for things to come, even if they don't release albums for three or four years. now it's probably lawyers time.
labels are always complaining about downloading, but if they release brilliant records, not only crap with a four-page booklet, but a real work from A to Z, maybe downloadings will fall and fall.
if the boxset comes out, it will be a miracle. just look a fact : the remastered versions of 80's albums in Japan in 98 with a second cd with all the b-sides... why was it only released in Japan? I know Japan is a good place for stuff like that, but tenth of thousands people would have buy it rather than listening to their old used singles. universal just looks at money. Jon said that big troubles came out in the label between These Days and Crush, but they finally decided to stay because they 've been for their whole career. no problems seem even bigger 5 or 6 years after... and downloading ain't the problem. they only want money-makers who won't come to them and say "I want to make a boxset with unreleased and obscure stuff and a dvd inside, something only fans will buy because it's like a gift to say thank you for supporting for twenty years", they only want brain surgeons like Britney Spears and all that kind of things to get money. they only want MTV stuff. they don't mind the rest. so it's time to leave. but if they leave, all their catalogue will be in the hands of universal, and we'll probably never have a boxset or something like this. maybe if Jon dies... or if gets as much sales as for SWW... because people are vultures and opportunists, and that money rules this world

The whole idea of a record label is to make money hence why they want things that will sell big time.

It's the music business not the music charity.

it's not about charity, but what's the real goal? if you want crap, just follow a dog! they're always complaining about trends but they make trends! BJ could have sell more if somebody didn't have sign Nirvana, per exemple. if they don't what to do with BJ, they have to set them free, other big majors will be happy to have them in their catalogue

crap is a subjective term.

lots of people think the darkness, white stripes, coldplay, busted, outkast, black eyed peas, britney, christina and a plethora of other artists are crap but they sell records and thats basically why the labels sign them.

The idea is to make money, not get profound music that maybe 10 people will like out there.