Chart topper

"I am rich beyond my wildest dreams," says Robbie Williams. An understandable enough claim, given that he has just signed an £80m contract with EMI in what is one of the the UK's biggest record deals, if not the biggest. But Mr Williams should be careful, for such stratospheric deals are often the harbinger of bad times to come.

Previous casualties of this phenomenon have been Mariah Carey and REM. Ms Carey signed a deal, also with EMI, that would have netted her £70m over five albums, but the first, Glitter, was a flop, and EMI paid her off. REM almost went RIP after they concluded a similar megabucks arrangement with Warner Brothers in the mid-1990s. When money comes through the door, it seems creative talent follows the television set out of the hotel window. Swing when you're winning, Robbie.