Dead Singer’s Estate Makes A Ring-A-Ding-Dong Decision

A story in today’s L.A. Times examines EMI’s plans to revamp the scotch-soaked corpse of Dean Martin, whose estate is ostensibly hoping for some sort of Elvis-like comeback: They’ve turned Martin’s image and likeness over to the music giant, who will have the tricky task of making 15-year-olds associate the word “Dino” with anything other than a Flintstones character.

EMI is taking steps to find alternate sources of income from its artists at a time when traditional forms of revenue, such as CD sales, are declining. EMI has made deals with Robbie Williams and rock band Korn in which it shares revenue from touring and merchandising as well as from recordings.

The company and the trust are “exploring licensing opportunities with home furnishing, fashion and hospitality brands” using Martin’s name and image, said EMI spokesman Adam Grossberg.

Hospitality brand? Did Martin really ride out the high life in the hopes of someday being used to postumously shill for a Comfort Inn traveler’s plan? We’re dubious that EMI has hit a goldmine here–the Rat Pack revival is almost ten years old at this point–and we think they should have done some more digging.

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EMI forms deal to market Dean Martin’s name [LA Times]