McCartney back on Capitol

Paul McCartney outside the Capitol building. Photo: MJ Kim.

Paul McCartney has signed a new recording contract with his old U.S. label Capitol Records, now owned by Universal Music Group. The historic deal encompasses McCartney’s catalogue of master recordings and welcomes him home to label where he began his career, it says here. Well, not quite historically accurate, as The Beatles had to release their first records in the U.S, on smaller labels, as Capitol’s Dave Dexter didn’t really want them.

Paul McCartney has signed a worldwide recording agreement with Capitol Records, it was announced yesterday by Capitol Music Group (CMG) Chairman & CEO Steve Barnett.

“This is genuinely exciting for me,” McCartney said in a statement. “Not only was Capitol my first U.S. record label, but the first record I ever bought was Gene Vincent’s ‘Be-Bop-A-Lula’ on the Capitol label.”

The new contract encompasses McCartney’s entire body of post-Beatles work, from his 1970 McCartney album, through his decade with Wings, to the dozens of solo and collaborative works that have continually reaffirmed his standing as the most popular, influential and acclaimed artist in the history of recorded music. In a career that spans six decades, McCartney has sold more than 500 million records worldwide, and he was recently named the United Kingdom’s most successful albums artist of all time by the Official Albums Chart Company.

McCartney’s press release confirms that the artist is currently working on a new studio album, while a comprehensive plan for the artist’s catalogue is being conceived by Capitol and Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) – in conjunction with the artist and his management team – and will be implemented beginning July 2017. The catalogue moves to Capitol/UMe from Concord, Paul’s previous label partner. We hope that Capitol Records will continue the ongoing series of Archive releases from McCartney, where the 1989 album “Flowers in the dirt” is up next for this kind of treatment, which sees his back catalogue reissued with deluxe editions, with outtakes, demos and live recordings accompanying each regular album in remastered form.

Lucian Grainge, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, said: “It would be simply impossible to overstate what an honor it is to welcome Paul back to Capitol. It’s a homecoming of one of the greatest musical artists of all time to the label that first helped bring his incredible music to the world. Paul’s astonishing career has shown no limits – in creativity, in commercial longevity, and in its impact on people and cultures in every corner of the globe. We are thrilled at both Capitol and UMG to be able to contribute to the next chapter in Paul’s extraordinary career.”

Michele Anthony, UMG’s Executive Vice President of U.S. Recorded Music added, “Paul’s vital and legendary body of work as a solo artist remains essential, relevant and so highly in demand. We’re beyond thrilled at the opportunity to put the global resources of Universal Music behind Paul’s forthcoming work, as well as introducing his previous iconic albums to new generations of fans around the world.”

No doubt, recent chart successes with collaborations between McCartney, Kanye West and Rihanna again makes the artist a prospective money earner for the label, while his ongoing very successful tours keep him current.

According to Billboard, McCartney visited the Hot 100 chart in 2015 for the first time since 2007, scoring three consecutive top 40 hits thanks to his collaborations with Kanye West. “Only One” (West featuring McCartney) hit No. 35, “FourFiveSeconds” (a collaboration with Rihanna, West and McCartney) peaked at No. 4 — McCartney’s highest charting single since 1983, and “All Day” (West featuring Theophilus London, Allan Kingdom and McCartney) reached No. 15. “FourFiveSeconds” also hit No. 1 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, his first leader there since “The Girl Is Mine,” with Michael Jackson, led the list in 1983. “FourFiveSeconds” was also a hit worldwide and charted in many countries. At 72, McCartney became the oldest person to score a number one single in Australia, thanks to that song’s success in 2015.

Meanwhile, McCartney has also taken stand in the ongoing presidential campaign in the U.S. with this recent Tweet:

She’s with me. pic.twitter.com/vHPMHMjFvV

— Paul McCartney (@PaulMcCartney) August 17, 2016