Reuters behind the scenes article about the business side of Gorillaz

Lelis was first to send the news that Reuters has a new behind-the-scenes article about Gorillaz, revealing some of the business plans of their record company and management for Phase 3.

You can read the article here.

Life’s a “Beach” for cartoon band Gorillaz
Mark Sutherland
Fri Feb 26, 2010 8:53pm

ESTLONDON (Billboard) – More than two years into its acquisition by Terra Firma Capital Partners, the EMI label’s biggest release of its crucial next few months comes from a cartoon band and involves its latest audiovisual concept — an environmentally conscious project set on a floating South Pacific island made of rubbish and starring everyone from upstart U.K. grime artists like Kano and Bashy to musical legends like Lou Reed and Bobby Womack.

Music

Welcome back to the wacky world of Gorillaz and their third album, “Plastic Beach,” due March 8 in the United Kingdom on Parlophone and a day later in the United States on Virgin.

If it sells as well as the two previous Gorillaz records, it will represent another great leap forward in EMI’s creative rehabilitation, not to mention a hefty down payment on the major label’s burgeoning debt. But the logistics of the project — the synchronicity of Damon Albarn’s music and Jamie Hewlett’s animation — require an expensive outlay just when EMI is watching every cost.

“EMI has invested heavily in this project because it’s such a big, global release for the company,” London-based Parlophone president Miles Leonard says. “We need to invest in it to get the most out of it.”

GUEST STARS

From the album’s opener, the Snoop Dogg-enhanced swagger of “Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach,” to the Clash reunion of Mick Jones and Paul Simonon on the title track, “Plastic Beach” is a hit-stuffed, musically ambitious thrill ride through a dozen collaborations and almost as many genres. Thanks to Albarn’s vision, it still hangs together as an album.

Leonard says he’s confident the new album can match the band’s previous success. “But,” he adds, “it’s also about how we can draw revenue from the project as much as pure sales numbers.”

Gorillaz’ self-titled 2000 debut has sold 1.9 million U.S. copies, according to Nielsen SoundScan, while 2005’s “Demon Days” scanned 2.2 million. U.K. sales stand at 881,000 and 1.7 million, respectively, according to the Official Charts Co.

Leonard says a variety of formats and models for accessing content will be featured in the campaign. While details are still being finalized, preorders are being taken at Gorillaz.com for the “Plastic Beach Experience,” a CD/DVD edition that will unlock additional audiovisual content on the Web site, which relaunched February 24.

Gorillaz manager Chris Morrison, chairman of CMO Management International, says the new site will also feature a subscription-based fan club that will provide access to extra content, with details to be confirmed shortly.

“We’ve got so many interesting things to offer people,” Morrison says. “It was just a promotional Web site for the first two records. It gets incredible traffic — we had over 9 million hits for one game (“Tiles of the Unexpected”) and you do think that should at least pay for itself.”

STAYING IN CHARACTER

Morrison says that Gorillaz live online has some disadvantages. With all interviews and even the band’s Twitter feed done “in character” as band frontman Murdoc Niccals, press slots are limited, although special artwork can be produced, as for Gorillaz’ recent appearance on the cover of U.K. music monthly Q.

The Internet also forced the entire “Plastic Beach” campaign to be moved up, after first single “Stylo” leaked online.

“Stylo” has so far peaked at No. 25 on Billboard’s Alternative chart. The video will debut Tuesday (March 2) on YouTube.

The band’s virtual approach doesn’t yet extend to touring, with EMI North America executive vice president of marketing and promotion Greg Thompson anticipating a “very special” headline appearance — featuring slots from many of the album’s guest stars alongside Albarn — April 18 at the Coachella festival in Southern California.

Further live dates will be announced soon, and Morrison expects an 18-month campaign, saying he’s “more concerned with where we end up in the chart” than with EMI’s financial situation.

“Damon is very loyal to EMI,” he adds. “And ultimately, the value of EMI — whether to Citigroup or (Terra Firma CEO) Guy Hands — is contained in the artists they have and the catalog they own