HOLLYWOOD - Some girls have all the luck. Only four months after music giant EMI Group PLC paid Mariah Carey almost $30 million to end her contract, the pop songstress has landed a new deal.Universal Music Group announced Wednesday that Carey will be starting her own record label, which will be distributed through its Island/Def Jam label group.
According to MTV.com, Carey is very happy about the deal, calling it a "tremendous and unprecedented opportunity." She is currently working on the yet-to-be-named label, but there is no word on when the LP will be released.
In April 2001, EMI signed a multimillion-dollar contract with Carey and agreed to give the singer a $20 million advance per album, a $6 million music-video production fund and about $1.5 million to promote four singles.
But in January, Carey received $28 million to walk away from her deal with EMI following the commercial flop of Glitter, which doubled as a soundtrack to her feature film debut. She also got to keep the $21 million advance she received when she signed the contract.
Although no monetary terms of her deal with Island/Def Jam have been disclosed, sources familiar with the pact told Reuters it is far below the estimated $80 million to $100 million that EMI's Virgin Records had originally agreed to pay Carey.
Carey, who was discovered by her former husband, Sony Music Entertainment chief Tommy Mottola, when she was 18 years old, is set to star in the upcoming film Wisegirls alongside Mira Sorvino.
