ROBBIE WILLIAMS is on the verge of signing the second biggest
recording deal of all time after secretly finishing his new album.
Escapology will be released on November 18 and the big four labels —
Sony, BMG, Warner and Universal — are battling with his old label EMI
to secure him. The auction has drawn offers of up to £75million.
Universal are favourites to get his signature. I've had a sneak
preview of the album, which Robbie recorded in Los Angeles this
summer despite vowing he was taking a year off. It sounds like his
best yet. Robbie has presented the album as a finished product to
executives in the US — including Sony chief Tommy Mottola — and many
feel this could be the album that breaks him there. The three-album
deal on offer dwarfs anything seen before in the UK. His deal with
EMI ran out this year and they are keen to re-sign him but he was
unhappy with the way they pushed his music in the US.
The company which wins Robbie will have a share of his tour revenue
and merchandising — something never done before. Robbie is expected
to agree a deal with one of the labels in the next three weeks. After
hearing his new material, bosses of the big four labels are desperate
to get him. It's no wonder. The CD features one of Robbie's finest
tracks to date — Feel. It is likely to be his next single and
December 9 has been pencilled as the release date.
Wanna Love Somebody is an epic, piano-based anthem that his arch-
rival Noel Gallagher would be proud of.
Something Beautiful is exactly that, with laid-back Van Morrison-
style horns, something of a departure from the usual sound for
Robbie.
And Song 3 — a title which spoofs Blur's Song 2 — is a thrashy punk
outing which shows him in more aggressive mood. Robbie has already
shot the cover art for the record and it shows him hanging upside-
down from a skyscraper Batman-style.
A source close to the singer, who you sometimes forget used to be in
Take That, told me: "This is going to be a huge deal and it looks
like being the biggest ever for a British artist.
"Robbie is Britain's biggest male artist and he is determined to
break America in a big way. He wants the right contract which allows
him freedom and gives him the backing in the US."
Robbie is expected to tour next year and is prepared to slog his way
across the US to achieve his dream of becoming a megastar there.
Michael Jackson signed the biggest record deal with Sony in 1991 for
£623million. Last year, Whitney Houston signed to Arista for
£70million.

Taken From The Sun