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| March 16, 2007 |
| Simon Cowell: I'm Worth More Than Springsteen |
Has the uber success of American Idol gone to Simon Cowell's head? Perhaps. It certainly has padded his bank account – so much so that he proclaims he's worth more than legendary rocker Bruce Springsteen, who has a record contract reported to be worth $100 million.
"I sell more records than Bruce Springsteen," Cowell says in a new interview with 60 Minutes airing Sunday. Cowell tells interviewer Anderson Cooper that he has sold "over 100 million records."
How is it that a former music executive-turned-television personality can achieve this feat?
Cowell says it's simple. "By doing Idol I signed the biggest artist on the planet and it's called Idol because every single Idol winner in now signed through Sony BMG," Cowell explains. "And this applies to ...all countries... we sell Idol to, which is over 30 countries."
Albums by the show's winners and runners-up are distributed by labels within the Sony BMG system through a deal between Clive Davis and 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by American Idol creator Simon Fuller.
Many former contestants – not just the winners – have gone on to become platinum-selling recording artists including Kelly Clarkson, Fantasia, Chris Daughtry and Carrie Underwood, who Cowell predicted would sell "more records than any other artist" in the show's history. And he was right – so far. To date Underwood's debut CD has sold over five million records.
Of Springsteen's $100 million deal with Sony BMG, Cowell quips, "For him it's a good deal."
Meanwhile, Cowell crows to Cooper, "In the last five years, I've probably sold over 100 million records. If [Springsteen] got 100 [million dollars], I should have got 500." |
posted by viraks @ 6:51:00 AM  |
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