Japanese superstar singer/songwriter Hikaru Utada has signed a worldwide recording contract with EMI Music.
“Going forward, her music activities in all countries and languages will now be united under one name, Hikaru Utada,” EMI said in a Nov. 8 statement, without providing any details of the contract.
News of the deal comes in the wake of Utada’s announcement in August that she will take a break from her musical career starting in 2011.
“We are very happy that EMI's global network, expertise and passion will continue to contribute to and support the musical and creative vision of the superbly talented Hikaru Utada,” said EMI Group CEO Roger Faxon in the EMI statement.
More than 9.9 million copies of Utada’s 1999 debut album, First Love (released when she was 16), have been shipped domestically and outside Japan, making it the country's all-time top-selling album.
In 2002 she signed with Universal’s Island Def Jam label as English-language artist “Utada,” while domestically she remained signed to Toshiba-EMI (now EMI Music Japan) under her full name. The three albums Utada has released internationally through Universal have not sold on anything like the scale of her Japanese recordings.
In Japan, Utada has released five albums and 21 singles. Her 2007 single Flavor of Life was downloaded more than 9 million times on release, a world record at the time. Utada has now sold a total of more than 50 million singles, albums and DVDs worldwide, according to EMI.
“Going forward, her music activities in all countries and languages will now be united under one name, Hikaru Utada,” EMI said in a Nov. 8 statement, without providing any details of the contract.
News of the deal comes in the wake of Utada’s announcement in August that she will take a break from her musical career starting in 2011.
“We are very happy that EMI's global network, expertise and passion will continue to contribute to and support the musical and creative vision of the superbly talented Hikaru Utada,” said EMI Group CEO Roger Faxon in the EMI statement.
More than 9.9 million copies of Utada’s 1999 debut album, First Love (released when she was 16), have been shipped domestically and outside Japan, making it the country's all-time top-selling album.
In 2002 she signed with Universal’s Island Def Jam label as English-language artist “Utada,” while domestically she remained signed to Toshiba-EMI (now EMI Music Japan) under her full name. The three albums Utada has released internationally through Universal have not sold on anything like the scale of her Japanese recordings.
In Japan, Utada has released five albums and 21 singles. Her 2007 single Flavor of Life was downloaded more than 9 million times on release, a world record at the time. Utada has now sold a total of more than 50 million singles, albums and DVDs worldwide, according to EMI.
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