Will American Idol Change Labels?

Exiting Sony?

While finding a replacement for SIMON COWELL remains the top issue for the folks at AMERICAN IDOL this SUMMER, another big change could be coming to the FOX TV show.

THE NEW YORK POST reports producer SIMON FULLER "is said to be doing outreach to record labels about a new deal for the IDOL artists. The preliminary talks with other labels comes as SONY MUSIC's longstanding agreement to represent the winners of AMERICAN IDOL on its various labels is expiring. One source said the SONY deal expired with the conclusion of season nine, which finished its TV run in MAY. A precise end date to the contract could not be confirmed."

That could mean a lot of record sales to a new company, even though recent AMERICAN IDOL winners haven't sold as many CDs as earlier contestants. Season 4 winner CARRIE UNDERWOOD sold 11.5 million albums, with the first season's champ KELLY CLARKSON moving 10.6 million pieces. Other winners didn't fare quite as well, with DAVID COOK selling 1.3 million and JORDIN SPARKS 1.2 million. Season 5 winner TAYLOR HICKS didn't sell 1 million, and has been dropped by J RECORDS.

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