Adele set to sign £90m Sony deal?

Reports from Britain overnight were suggesting that Adele is about to sign a £90 million (A$$180.5 million) deal with Sony Music Entertainment. It is set to be signed over the next few weeks.

It would be the biggest ever record deal for a British act, eclipsing the £80 million (A$160.5 million) EMI paid for Robbie Williams in 2002. It would also be the largest record deal for a female artist, beating the £70 million ($140.4 million) that Arista paid to secure Whitney Houston in 2011.

Sony Music signed Michael Jackson in 2010 for £164 million ($329.05 million).

Its deal with Adele would double the 28-year-old’s fortune, currently estimated to be £85 million ($170.5 million).

A source from Sony Music apparently leaked the story of the deal to the London Sun, saying, “We’ve secured Adele, who’s without doubt the biggest music star in a generation. This is massive.”

The source reportedly also added, “Adele’s deal with her original label, XL, expired and we’d had an existing relationship with her in America. The deal is being worked on by our Columbia label in the US, but is worth £90 million and gives Sony the rights to release her future music exclusively around the world.”

XL is released in Australia through Remote Control.

So far, neither Adele nor Sony have commented on The Sun story. The deal was struck with Adele’s manager Jonathan Dickens, who was adamant about the £90 million figure from the start.

Fellow Brit and One Direction member Harry Styles is reportedly also set to sign a major label deal. Currently signed to Simon Cowell’s Syco Music in the UK, Styles is allegedly at the centre of a bidding war between Sony and Universal. It’s apparently the work of manager Jeffrey Azoff, who left CAA in February to launch his own management firm, Full Stop Management.

Currently touring through Europe, Adele continues to pick up accolades.

On the weekend, she scooped five wins at the Billboard Music Awards – including top artist, top female artist, and top Billboard 200 artist.

On May 19, she won Songwriter of the Year at the Ivor Novello Awards in London, which hail excellence in songwriting. She was recognised for her third album 25 which has now hit the 17 million mark globally.

Accepting the honour by video link, Adele admitted, “I won it on my last album as well… but I was secretly pregnant, so I didn’t enjoy the night too well. To win it this time is truly, truly humbling.”