Cowell Says He's Bigger Than Springsteen

Simon Cowell poses at an "American Idol" celebration of this seasons' top 12 finalists held at Astra West Thursday March 8, 2007 in West Hollywood, Calif. In an interview to air Sunday, March 18, 2007, on CBS' "60 Minutes," the television talent competition's judge says he's worth five times more to Sony BMG, the record company he works for, than Bruce Springsteen. (AP Photo/Phil McCarten) (Phil Mccarten - AP)

NEW YORK -- Simon Cowell says he's bigger than The Boss. In an interview to air Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," the "American Idol" judge says he's worth five times more to Sony BMG than Bruce Springsteen.

"I sell more records than Bruce Springsteen, sure," Cowell says of the 57-year-old rocker, who signed a contract that was reported to be in the neighborhood of $100 million.

"I mean, in the last five years, I've probably sold over 100 million records. If (Springsteen) got one hundred (million dollars), I should have got five hundred (million dollars)," he says.

Cowell says he sells all those records because he's signed "the biggest artist on the planet" _ Fox network's "American Idol."

"Every single `Idol' winner is now signed through Sony BMG," says Cowell. "And this applies to ... all the countries ... we sell `Idol' to, which is over 30 countries."

Albums by "American Idol" winners and runners-up are distributed by labels within the Sony BMG system through a deal between Clive Davis and 19 Recordings Unlimited, the label managed by "American Idol" creator Simon Fuller.

Interviewer Anderson Cooper asks Cowell, 47, whether his deal with Sony BMG is in the same neighborhood as Springsteen's.

"A hundred million ... that's a great deal," Cowell says.

Was he referring to himself or Springsteen?

"For him," Cowell says, grinning. "For him it's a good deal."

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CBS is division of CBS Corp. Fox is a division of News Corp. Sony BMG Music Entertainment is a joint venture between Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG, a German media conglomerate.

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On the Net:

CBS:

http://www.cbs.com/

Fox:

http://www.americanidol.com/