Morrissey dropped by Capitol Records imprint, Harvest

Morrissey has been dropped from his record label just over four weeks following the release of his latest album.

In January, the ex-Smiths frontman signed a two-album deal with US-based label Harvest; a subsidiary of Capitol/Universal Music Group. His 10^th solo LP, released on July 11 in Australia, was his first in five years. World Peace Is None Of Your Business peaked at #58 on the ARIA chart, #2 in the UK and #14 in the US.

According to a post on Morrissey fan website Tru To You, Capitol Records Group Chairman/CEO Steve Barnett ended the relationship.

“9 August 2014
Harvest Records

“Three weeks after the release of Morrissey’s World Peace Is None Of Your Business (#2 UK, #14 US), Capitol Records/Harvest have ended their relationship with Morrissey, as directed by label boss Steve Barnett. Morrissey is once again in search of a record label.”

The news follows a characteristic lamentation from Morrissey on Tru To You where he took a jab at the fact his label hadn’t created a video promo for the album’s title track. After his fans made their own clips he said: “A similar document ought to have been harvested by the record label, but please understand that the pop or rock industry can be as dedicated to perpetuating public deception as the world of politics itself. God bless social media!”

In the past, three of Morrissey’s solo LPs have topped the UK chart.

In October last year Morrissey released Autobiography through Penguin Classics. In the memoir, he criticised the marketing of his 2009 solo LP Years Of Refusal.

“Universal signed me for Years of Refusal against their will, and lumpen new management densely release the album during the week of illicit industry cardsharing known as the Brit Awards – a fishy con game where the most powerful labels pay each other off with jiggery-pokery awards for the acts that have already been earmarked for calculated enlargement in the year to come,” one passage read.

The book stayed in the Top 5 of the UK’s best sellers list for five weeks.

Morrissey is currently still featuring on the Artists page of Harvest’s website.