So Goodbye...

[From Fox 411]

Say Goodbye to Arista Records

It's all over for Arista Records beginning today and ending Friday when pink slips will be handed out.

Arista is being absorbed by Bertelsmann Music Group's RCA/J/Jive Records, where it will be an imprint only, with no staff attached to it. On Friday, all of the Arista folks are being let go. Some will move to other labels at BMG, but most will head to other companies or unemployment.

Of course, there's lots of irony here: Arista has the Grammy-winning, gazillion-selling OutKast CD, "Speakerboxx/The Love Below." It has also has the new CD by Usher, which should be a monster hit this week.

But something had to go at BMG, and it wasn't going to be RCA. That's one of the most famous names in media. And it wasn't going to be Clive Davis's J Records, which has had hit after hit since it started four years ago. It wasn't going to be Jive, which boasts Britney, Justin and all the teen stuff of the last few years. So after 30 proud years, Arista will fade to black.

I am told, by the way, that all the original Arista artists — Whitney Houston, Carlos Santana, Sarah McLachlan, Dido, etc — will retain the Arista logo on their CDs. All of the La Face artists who came with L.A. Reid — like Usher and OutKast — will head to Jive Records. Meanwhile, the offices Arista just moved into recently — fancy new digs on Seventh Avenue — are being shown by realtors right now.

 

NEWSFILE: 22 MARCH 2004