Morrissey and BMG Part Ways

Morrissey is no longer signed to BMG, the label that released his three latest albums, he revealed in a statement on Morrissey Central yesterday (November 16). The singer-songwriter, who has generated a slew of political controversies in the past decade, blamed the label’s “new plans for ‘diversity’” and claimed the label “dictates” how artists should behave, without citing evidence specific to his relationship with the company. In a statement to Pitchfork, BMG said it would not renew his contract but will continue to support the parts of his catalog it represents.

Its statement reads:

BMG has released three exceptional Top 10 albums from Morrissey over the past three years, including some of the best work of his career. That three album deal has now come to an end. We wish him well in the next chapter of his career.

In his statement, Morrissey wrote: “BMG have appointed a new Executive who does not want another Morrissey album. Instead, the new BMG Executive has announced new plans for ‘diversity’ within BMG’s artist roster, and all projected BMG Morrissey releases/reissues have been scrapped. This news is perfectly in keeping with the relentless galvanic horror of 2020.”

He continued: 

We would be critically insane to expect anything positive. My three albums with BMG have been the best of my career, and I stand by them till death. Recording them has been a pivotal period in my life, and I thank the previous BMG team and everyone involved for that. It’s still important to me to do music my own way, and I wouldn’t want to be on a label that dictates so specifically how their artists should behave—especially when the word ‘talent’ is notably never mentioned.

BMG released Morrissey’s Low in High School in 2017, the collaboration-packed covers album California Son last year, and, in March, I Am Not a Dog on a Chain.