Back On Top...

[From New York Post]

BMG Puts Davis Back On Top

February 3, 2004 -- Clive Davis is back on top.
As The Post reported two weeks ago, Davis, the music legend credited with discovering such talents as Whitney Houston and Santana, is taking on a much bigger role at Bertelsmann's BMG.

Yesterday the company named Davis as chairman and CEO of BMG North America, giving him control over such labels as RCA, J, Arista and Jive.

His top deputy, Charles Goldstuck, will become president and chief operating officer of BMG North America.

The move brings Davis, who most recently was head of RCA, back to the pinnacle of the music industry, and once again gives him control of Arista, the label he founded in 1975. Davis was booted from Arista in 2000, in what turned out to be a public relations fiasco for BMG. "It really is thrilling," Davis told The Post. "It certainly is emotional. It does seem to complete the full circle."

BMG and Sony Music have proposed to merge, and the deal is currently pending before regulators in both the United States and Europe. "We'll be looking to consolidate and combine where it makes sense," Goldstuck told The Post. "We will be looking to bring in senior A&R [artist and repertoire] people."

In late 2002, Davis and Goldstuck took the helm at RCA, and in 2003 the label saw its market share rise more than 60 percent.

NEWSFILE: 3 FEBRUARY 2004