This was years before the internet and streaming gutted record sales. The signing came near the end of the giant record deal era, which peaked in the 1990s when artists like Prince, R.E.M., Michael Jackson, Madonna, and Barbra Streisand signed colossal record deals.
This deal came after a decade of recording for Columbia Records, selling over 100 million albums and scoring over 20 top 10 hits.
It was worth a reported $80 million for four albums. In the spring of 2001, Mariah Carey’s multi-album, multi-million-dollar record deal with Virgin Records was announced.
