Utada Hikaru(宇多田 ヒカル) drops Universal for global contract with EMI

EMI Music announced on Monday morning that it has signed a new global recording deal with singer Hikaru Utada (27). This spells the end of her contract with Universal Music, which has released her two English albums in the United States under its Island Def Jam label. Although those albums were released under the name Utada, she will now be using her full name Hikaru Utada for her future releases in all countries and all languages.


The press release issued by EMI Music notes that Utada's debut album "First Love" has shipped more than 9.9 million copies worldwide and is currently the "most successful Japanese language album ever." So far, she has "sold in total over 50 million singles, albums, and DVDs worldwide."

Utada's dissatisfaction with Universal was apparent when she recently told fans they shouldn't buy the "Utada The Best" album, a compilation of her English works. Universal had unilaterally decided to release the album on the same day as her Japanese single compilation "Utada Hikaru SINGLE COLLECTION VOL.2," being released by EMI Music on November 24.

With her new global recording contract, it is unclear how long her planned hiatus will last.

宇多田ヒカル - Goodbye Happiness

Source: tokyograph.com