Not only is Mariah Carey preparing for the role of her life as a new mother of twins, but the record-setting diva is also primed for a major change in her professional life as well. News recently broke that Carey is set to leave Universal Music Group to return to Sony.
Carey is certainly no stranger to Sony, she rose to prominence under its Columbia arm. In less than eight years, Carey became the label’s best-selling act, only to leave following her tumultuous divorce with then-label president Tommy Mottola.
After the ink was dry on her divorce, Carey jetted off to Virgin Records where she signed an $80 million-dollar deal. At the time, the deal appeared justified considering Carey’s impressive track record. Things wouldn’t pan out though, and the label would eventually buy her out of her contract for $28 million.
That led Carey to her current deal at Universal Music Group. And while the results have at times been great (Carey went six times platinum with The Emancipation of Mimi), the Grammy-winning singer apparently feels like it’s time to cast her lot with new leadership.
Contractually speaking, there’s currently one album left on her current deal, which Carey plans to release by the end of the year.
Now that she’s made the decision to jump ship, the only real question is how will Carey fit in at Sony. She certainly can’t reclaim her perch as top diva at Columbia, as Beyoncé has that locked up. RCA wouldn’t appear to be an option either as Christina Aguilera currently calls that home.
Only time will tell where she will land within Sony, but one has to believe that Carey and her team have a strong plan in place to make such a shocking change. –djr
