Mariah Carey has a brand new record label, Butterfly MC Records, which she has formed in conjunction with Epic.
Carey spent the first ten years of her career at Columbia Records, a sister company of Epic on the Sony roster, for the albums Mariah Carey through Rainbow. She then moved to Island for five LPs each of which saw dwindling sales. All of her Columbia sold 10+ million (Music Box, Daydream) down to three million (Rainbow) while her Island catalogue did include the 6 million selling The Emancipation of Mimi but her 2009 album, Memoirs of a Perfect Angel only made gold with sales just north of 550,000.
Then there was her return to the Columbia fold with the Def Jam album Me. I Am Mariah…The Elusive Chanteuse which fell short of 200,000.
According to the press release, the agreement includes a new studio album, slated for later this year but their is going to have to be a concerted effort by everyone involved to get any new songs airplay. The last “hit” by Carey was #Beautiful with Miguel (2013 / #15). Five singles have been released since with only three charting and none making it out of the 80’s on the Hot 100.
L.A. Reid, who resigned Carey to Sony in 2015, said “To continue working with Mariah Carey at Epic has been another rewarding chapter of my career. Mariah’s incomparable talents as a singer, with her vocal range that is nothing short of legendary, are matched by her brilliance as a songwriter, producer, and performer par excellence. Mariah’s chart records have established her enduring place in music history, a position that is cherished and supported by her loyal fans worldwide. I look forward to building upon all of Mariah’s success for years to come.”
Mariah said “I am putting my heart and soul into making more new music. I am so thrilled for this next chapter and to continue working with, and for, everyone that I love.”
