Haley Reinhart on Interscope Split: "I'll Find Another Great Home"

[john]

Personally I don't think it is complicated at all why the deal fell appart.

I think the "house cleaning" is the true answer,

and I think that over time the industry has learned that they must clean house each and every year and cut all acts that haven't yet hit it big. They will miss a few but they'll also stop wasting resources on another couple dozen (yes, if you look at it they have dozens of not really big names on their labels.. they bring them in, hope some hit, then move o)

As crass at that might sound to us, all businesses need to make rules from themselves to avoid wasting greater amounts of time.

It might be simple: Not enough of Haley's product was moving so end of story.

On the other hand, there's enough twists and turns to make it an interesting mystery. At least for those of us that like to speculate about such things.

While a successful recording company is going to continually be letting go of artists, while signing others, the house cleaning metaphor implies the release of an unusually large number of them (like 65 in a short period). And it is being immediately followed by changes in top management. So maybe Interscope has hit a rough patch and needs to downsize a bit and make other changes.

Ultimately, I'm sure that not renewing with Haley reflects a hard nosed business decision. Of course it was. I don't think they were mad at her or feeling she is just too uncooperative. After all they still have a contract with M.I.A. who doesn't listen to Jimmy at all. And perhaps, no matter what Haley did the label wasn't going to continue with her.

Haley was clearly expecting a second single and video during when she spoke last summer, then it moved to a "maybe" and then it was over with Interscope. Perhaps she had A&R people advocating for her but they lost in that effort. I imagine some of them are being swept out of the house, too.

But from a business perspective, particularly if you haven't yet recouped costs, I would think that if there was a second single Interscope would have wanted it to be Undone. If Haley were on the cusp of staying versus going from the label's perspective, a difference of opinion on the choice of single could tip the balance. If the artist is not enthusiastic about the song they thought had the best chance of being a hit, then maybe they didn't like the odds. Of course, we don't know what the people of Interscope were thinking but I for one was skeptical about Oh My! doing much as a single. I think Undone could do well if promoted.