Fields Signs Custom to $1.4-Million Record Deal

Artist Direct, the latest start-up label from Los Angeles entrepreneur Ted Fields, has signed rock act Custom to an estimated $1.4-million record deal.

Fields beat out DreamWorks and AOL Time Warner’s Atlantic Group in a fierce bidding war to land the young Canadian rock act after its recent exit from EMI Group’s Virgin Records. EMI freed the band from a long-term contract just months before the release of its debut album, forfeiting nearly $750,000 in recording costs on the project.

The unusual move followed a run-in between Custom lead singer Duane Levold and Nancy Berry, the controversial vice chairwoman of Virgin’s worldwide record division. Sources said Levold consulted an attorney about filing a harassment claim against Virgin after allegedly receiving a series of threatening voice-mail messages from Berry.