In a somewhat surprising move (we already knew something was up), Rob Zombie has announced his departure from Interscope/Geffen and has signed a deal with Roadrunner’s commercial-leaning Loud & Proud Imprint. His Hellbilly Deluxe 2 will see a 2010 release.
What happened here? Our best guess is that Interscope realized Zombie’s best days are behind him and they’d need to do more than lean on an existing fanbase to move the record. While we speculated Zombie might try to go the self-release route, he’s likely extremely busy with his film career and already has tons of money in the bank, so if high profit margins aren’t a concern, why do all the work when Roadrunner/Loud & Proud has the savvy to make this album a success?
Meanwhile, Loud & Proud has been a powerhouse lately, signing far more high-profile acts than its parent label, including Lynyrd Skynyrd, Sammy Hagar, Ratt, Collective Soul and Tommy Lee’s Methods of Mayhem. Not that any of that is metal (or relevant) enough to make sense on Roadrunner, but when you want to talk about money-makers, Loud & Proud is setting itself up nicely. And while Rob Zombie isn’t a hit-machine anymore, he’ll still move enough units to make a smaller label happy.
