The In Da Club hitmaker is in final negotiations with Murdoch’s News Corp firm – which owns social networking site MySpace – for a large stake in all aspects of the 50 Cent brand, including music, concerts, books and his label G-Unit Records.
If the agreement goes ahead, G-Unit Records and its roster of artists will move under News Corp’s MySpace Records umbrella.
According to reports, half of the $300 million deal will be in stock, potentially making 50 Cent – real name Curtis Jackson – one of the biggest News Corp shareholders.
However, the deal is not expected to be finalised until next year (09) – allowing the star to fulfil all of his contractual obligations with his current label, Interscope Records.
Unless 50’s music career has a turn-around soon, News Corp will be buying into a sinking brand IMO. The ‘Kanye Chart Battle’ episode reinforced that. Yes, he’s still a relatively big seller, but it speaks volumes that after the much hyped ‘battle’, ‘Curtis’ dropped like a rock on the charts. With every release since his 2003 debut, 50 has sold less and less. I guess time will tell if this works out…
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