McCartney brands label 'boring'
Sir Paul released his album Memory Almost Full on Starbucks' label
Sir Paul McCartney has said he left EMI, his record label of 45 years, as it had become "boring" and he had "dreaded going to see" its executives.
The musician told The Times that the company's handling of his music had become "symbolic of the treadmill".
The ex-Beatle went on to sign a deal with Starbucks' label, Hear Music.
"Everybody at EMI had become part of the furniture. I'd be a couch; Coldplay are an armchair," Sir Paul said. An EMI spokesman declined to comment.
"Robbie Williams, I dread to think what he was," he said of his former labelmate.
"I could guess what they were going to say. 'Love your record, Paul.' And I'd say, 'Well what should we do with it?'
Couldn't some bright people do that in two days? Look boys, I'm sorry, I'm digging a new furrow
Sir Paul McCartney on EMI's desire to spend six months marketing his music
"Then they'd go: 'Well, we think you ought to go to Cologne,' which is what they always say," the star explained.
"You go somewhere, speak to a million journalists for one day and you get all the same questions. So I started saying, 'God, we've got to do something else.'"
Sir Paul went on to say that he was keen to release material quickly, but was told by EMI bosses that a period of at least six months was needed to market his music.
"Couldn't some bright people do that in two days? Look boys, I'm sorry, I'm digging a new furrow," he said.
Sir Paul released Memory Almost Full, his first album through Hear Music, in June. He also opened a website, Meyesight, to showcase his musical demos, poems and artwork.
The album sold more copies in the US in its first week than any of his other studio albums. It peaked at number three in the US and entered the UK chart at number five.
Earlier this week it was announced that the veteran star would receive the award for outstanding contribution to music at next year's Brit Awards.
― Mark G, Friday, 14 December 2007 14:22 (eighteen years ago)