FEATURE: NICOLI'S LAND OF MILK AND HONEY.

Eighteen months on from his EMI exit, Eric Nicoli is still very much involved in music, having become the biggest shareholder in London band Honey Ryder and jumping on board the R&R Music group

By Robert Ashton

Eric Nicoli has been a busy man since leaving EMI Music a year and a half ago. And now his industriousness is paying off. The former CEO finds himself starting 2009 with no fewer than three fingers in three music pies - each being quite different propositions and one which could prove to help forge a new business model.

Six months after departing the major Nicoli was approached by entrepreneur David Ritchie and invested in his fledging R&R Music group, which is about to go live. He has also become a shareholder and director of Nick Stewart & Associates, where he will offer financial advice to his old friend. Additionally, he has also used some of his reported #2.8m payoff from EMI to invest in the west London band Honey Ryder, who are financing their debut album by selling shares to investors.

R&R is the venture that Nicoli believes could help the industry negotiate a path through the new "commercial realities". He says, "The market is half the size it was 10 years ago. Any business that depends on the sale of records is extremely challenged."

So the new outfit, which Nicoli has taken a stake in, will not simply sign an act and offer a large advance. It plans to create separate and individual companies for each artist. "Essentially it will be a 50/50 joint venture. We will both share equally in the costs necessary to bring [an act] to market and the artist will get a bigger share if successful," says Nicoli.

Each artist company created will also own all the artist's rights, including recording music, publishing, live and merchandising, which Nicoli says will also incentivise the artist. PR, marketing, legal and other services will be subcontracted, which Nicoli says means "our model does not have any major fixed costs" enabling it to better function in the challenging marketplace, which has seen every major and a number of indies cut headcount in a bid to keep costs down.