Linkin Park trying to break out of Warner's contract

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Ahead of Warner Music Group's initial public offering, rap metal band Linkin Park on Monday demanded to be released from its contract before a remaining four-album commitment ends, saying the label wasn't marketing its music effectively.

Linkin Park said in a statement it "wants off" the label and is "weighing all of their options on how to best get new music to their fans."

A source familiar with the discussions said the public spat was a ploy by the band's managers, The Firm, to renegotiate their contract and extract a $60 million advance ahead of the IPO. The source said the band also asked for 50 percent of profits.

Calling the $60 million figure inaccurate, the group's managers said Warner offered a $15 million advance for five records but no marketing and promotion guarantees. It declined to give more details on the deal.

"While Linkin Park's talent is without question, the band's management is using fictitious numbers and making baseless charges and inflammatory threats in what is clearly a negotiating tactic," the company said in a statement.

Private negotiating wars waged in public are a time honored tradition in the music industry. Most notably, Madonna's Maverick Records, sued Warner for $200 million to end its contract with the label in March 2004.

But few are as well-timed. Warner Music Group, which has three of the top 10 selling acts this week, has filed for an initial public offering that could raise as much as $782 million.

Linkin Park, which soared to the top of the charts with its 2000 debut album, "Hybrid Theory," said only $7 million of proceeds from the IPO would be funneled back to the label.

Media mogul Edgar Bronfman Jr. and a group of private equity firms purchased Warner Music, the world's fourth biggest music company, from Time Warner Inc. last year for $2.6 billion. Among them, investment firm Thomas H. Lee, which stands to profit from Warner's public offering, is also an investor in The Firm.

Warner defended its ability to create hits in a dramatically new economic environment. This week, albums from Rob Thomas and Mike Jones. both with Warner Music, debuted in the top 5. Linkin Park's latest release is at No. 125 on Nielsen SoundScan.

The band said sales of its records have comprised about 10 percent of Warner's sales over the past five years. The loss of band could hurt the company, it added.

Warner disputed the figures, saying Linkin Park accounted for about 3 percent of sales over the past five years, based on SoundScan sales figures.

Warner said last month it planned to sell 32.6 million shares to the public at an estimated price of $22 to $24 per share.