30 Seconds to Mars Back in Virgin Territory
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Why be at odds when there's music to be made?
Back on the same page after months of legal wrangling over royalties and whatnot, 30 Seconds to Mars is once again recording for longtime label Virgin Records.
The Jared Leto-fronted rock band's third studio album, currently titled This Is War, is slated for a fall release following a truce between the EMI-owned label—which had sued the group for $30 million—and talent (who in turn had really lashed out at Virgin).
"So here we are, after almost a year at war, and the time has come," Leto wrote yesterday on 30 Seconds' website. "The time to make peace, to move ahead, and to begin again. We are finally and thankfully at a place where we are excited and relieved to put behind us one of the most challenging battles of our entire careers."
That good place was probably arrived at after the two sides had satisfied each other's monetary concerns, judging by how Leto described the conflict-resolution process.
"There are many reasons that have contributed to this decision but overall the willingness and enthusiasm by EMI to address our major concerns and issues, the opportunity to return to work with a team so committed and passionate about Thirty Seconds to Mars, and the company's dedication to changing the status quo of the business of recorded music made this choice possible," the actor-musician wrote.
"Throughout, we always looked for opportunities to make peace, and stayed open to compromise and resolution. But not at any cost. We were prepared to continue down this path as long as we needed to. This was a fight we believed in wholeheartedly. A fight about art. A fight about truth. A fight about fairness. And a fight about freedom.
"This was the first time we had to defend ourselves in litigation and hopefully our last. It was never for a single moment something we wanted, something we enjoyed, or something we treated lightly."
And in case you were wondering, "litigation is not fun."
Nick Gatfield, EMI Music's president of A&R labels, North America and U.K., said in a statement: "We are thrilled to have set aside our differences and signed a new agreement with 30 Seconds to Mars. Our relationship has been extremely rewarding and successful, and we're eager to move forward and put our global team to work."
30 Seconds—Leto, his brother Shannon and Tomo Milicevic—have been busy cranking out This Is War, which will feature guest vocals by Kanye West, for nearly a year. They recently opened their studio to residents of Los Angeles' Children of the Night program, which rescues kids from prostitution, and offered up free concert tix to their musically inclined guests.
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