For Simon Cowell, American Idol means one thing and one thing only.
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"My only interest was Idol was my vehicle to launch records. That was the only thing I was thinking about," said Cowell during an interview for CBS' 60 Minutes that will air this Sunday night. "But what we actually did interestingly, was by doing Idol, I signed the biggest artist on the planet... and it's called Idol. Because every single Idol winner is now signed to Sony BMG. And this applies to all the countries we sell [Idol] to, which is over 30 countries. So there's probably now, 75 to 100 artists who all signed through this one center."
During the 60 Minutes interview, correspondent Anderson Cooper states Cowell "makes more money for Sony BMG" then most of the label's artists, a fact the Idol judge is apparently not too shy to talk about.
Specifically, Cooper asks Cowell if he thinks he's "just as important" to Sony BMG as Bruce Springsteen. While structured differently, both reportedly have deals in the $100 million range with the large music company.
"In terms of selling records yes. I sell more records than Bruce Springsteen. I mean in the last five years, I've probably sold over 100 million records," Cowell told Cooper. "So [Springsteen] got [$100 million], I should have gotten [$500 million]. I mean $100 million deal... that's a great deal. For [Springsteen]. For him it's a good deal."
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At least Cowell doesn't think he's bigger than Jesus.
About The Author: Christopher Rocchio