The Philadelphia Orchestra is in talks with the small Finnish record label Ondine to distribute a series of CDs which would be produced live by the orchestra and distributed internationally by the label. Philadelphia has been without a recording deal since 1996, when it was dropped by EMI, although the orchestra has released a few albums on its own in recent years. The recent labor agreement between the orchestra and its musicians reportedly allows for lower pay rates for recording than those imposed on orchestras nationwide by the musicians’ union, a change which paved the way for the new deal with Ondine.