Have Bon Jovi's Label Obligations been met now
 

Ok we all know that Jon didnt really want to put out the GH but had an obligation to do so to the label.
Now that obligation is done are they still signed to Island or are they out of contract.
Just wondering regarding future releases solo or band related.
I think the way the music industry is now they could easily do it them selves and could give them a bit of artistic freedom to do so knowing that you dont have the head of A&R picking the singles etc

I think the question is do they need artistic freedom or money ? no kidding .. because it is about that .. they can have their own label and do what they want but they will then be short of money to organize concerts etc .... a big machine record company will ALSO give them tons of cash beside the lack of artistic freedom... they cannot have it all the money and the freedom... and I am not sure they have been forced to do stuff they didn't want to do that much

The question is, how much is Jon (and the band) prepared to do for "artistic freedom"? They could go it alone if they wanted to but that would mean adopting a better promotional strategy and having no one to blame. I just don't get the impression that they're willing to make the time and learn how to effectively harness the new media, instead of just paying it token lip service.

I remember a post that said they signed a new contract after HAND. I don't remember what the terms were though ie. how many albums and what sort.

However I have said the same thing many times - why do giants in the industry like Jovi and Springsteen stay with the same record companies year after year? I can only speculate that they don't want the headache of doing the organizing.

Aloha !

Jon started his own label in the late 80's called Jambco. He meant it as a label to sign new talents to and to give them a fair chance in the industry. Jon never discovered any talents however and the label was closed in 1994. Only 4 albums have been released on the label as far as I'm aware; Slippery, New Jersey, Keep The Faith, and a Billy Falcon album.

As for artists staying with major labels; probably money and promotion. I don't think anyone has ever told Springsteen what to record and I seriously wonder how limited Bon Jovi really is as to their creative output. Jon often uses it as an excuse as to not being able to do side projects like Lost Highway, but I can imagine Universal saying "We won't put heavy promotion on an album that's not commercially interesting". That makes sense, and would be reason for Jon to make it more of the same so that he gets the exposure he always wants for his new albums.

The Circle therefore is interesting. It was filled with songs of which Jon thought would be succesful, but they weren't. I wonder what direction he now thinks the band should head in, as they haven't made a decent pop rock album in years now. I'm positive The Circle is seen as a major failure by Jon, both commercially but artistically as well, as he measures artistic succes by how many records are being sold.

Salaam Aleikum,
Sebastiaan

Yeah, the fact he's dropped most of the album from the live shows says a lot.

Yes, And he changed it to Jamco for some reason. I’m not sure if there is any significance for the change. (Jon Anthony Matt Bon Jovi Co. - For those who didn’t know)

I’m not sure where the Skids or Aldo Nova fit in with this, if they even did at all. But Slippery, Jersey, and Faith were still backed by Mercury. I’m not sure how the split worked.


Springsteen follows a similar pattern. He’ll mix real albums with creative ones. Look at his post 2K work:

Springsteen Had
3 Regular Pop Albums - The Rising, Magic, Working on a Dream
2 Creative Ones - Devils & Dust, The Seeger Sessions
8 Compilation - 3 GHs collections, 2 Box Sets, 3 Live Albums
1 - The Promise - I'm not sure where this fits

Jovi Had:
4 Regular Pop Albums - Crush, Bounce, Hand, The Circle
2 Creative Ones - TLFR - LH
3 Compilation - OWN, GH, Box Set

The only difference is, Springsteen doesn’t give a shit how his albums do commercially. Or at least that’s what he implies

Bruce makes album so he can tour and it's the tours that generate the big bucks nowadays.
Bruce has always been remarkably creative so the record company doesn't really have to worry about him releasing albums and GH albums/compilations are all for the record companies aren't they?

The funny thing is LH is the least creative thing Bon Jovi has ever done. Furthermore, there is nothing risky about that album. They knew that part of their fanbase would roll their eyes at the thought of a BJ "Country Album" but they also knew they had laid the ground work with Who Says. If HAND was a so called country album, that'd at least been a little risky. But no, they put the country version of 1 song as a bonus track. But when that was their only hit, they figured it is time for a BJ country album. So they wrote a few songs while listening to Keith Urban records... Make a Memory being the only interesting song on the album. IMO there are only two really bad songs on the album and rest are good-descent... but only 1 interesting song? (...If I Was Your Mother... Love it or hate it, but at least it was interesting) Not once did they change keys or tempo or even song structure... they are all Intro/verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus/outro... some have a solo and some do not. For the most part, a good album (far from great or even BJ standards, but good) but adding a fiddle and steel guitar is not risky... especially when country music is selling in America better than any other genre.

This Left... it was creative and kind of risky... it just wasn't good. Okay some of it was. I'd choose to hear the Wanted and IML versions over the originals any day of the week... but that's just me. But yes, creative and risky.

Both their recording contract and their tour contract are complete at the end of this tour. I think this is part of the reason for the hiatus along with the genuine need of the band to take some time away.