Whitney Moves To J Records...

[Reuters Report]

Bell Tolls for Arista Records
Fri Mar 12, 8:32 PM ET Add Entertainment - Reuters to My Yahoo!

By Gail Mitchell

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - RCA Victor Group's rebirth as a stand-alone division of RCA Records is a harbinger of an impending massive reorganization at sister label Arista Records, according to sources.

Those sources confirm that most of the BMG North America label's 170 staffers will be let go. The downsized label would retain a small A&R and marketing staff but be placed under the RCA Music Group banner.

The label's artist roster will be divided among sister divisions Jive, RCA and J Records.

It's widely thought that the LaFace-affiliated acts (OutKast, Usher, Pink, Cee-Lo) will be transferred to Jive. Sarah McLachlan (news), Dido and Avril Lavigne (news) would shift to RCA, and Whitney Houston (news), Kenny G and rap newcomer J-Kwon would go to J Records.

Arista staffers already have been notified about the impending restructuring. No definitive time frame for the reorganization could be confirmed at press time.

But sources generally agree that most changes will occur only after the release of key albums by Usher (March 23) and J-Kwon (March 30).

Also unclear is the fate of Arista's imprints, which include Jermaine Dupri's So So Def (Dupri is also a senior VP at Arista), Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis' Flyte Tyme and the Neptunes' Star Trak.

BMG declined to confirm or deny any element of the impending reorganization.

When contacted by Billboard, a spokesman issued the following statement: "BMG is in the process of evaluating the labels and staff in North America. We will announce any decisions or changes at the appropriate time."

Talk about Arista's future heated up after the announcement that Arista Associated Labels would revert to the RCA Victor Group moniker. A year ago, BMG Entertainment split the RCA Victor Group into BMG Classics and Arista Associated Labels.

Daily operations of the stand-alone division are now supervised by Jeb Hart, who continues as senior VP of worldwide marketing for RCA Records.

Hart reports to Richard Sanders, RCA's executive VP/general manager, and Ashley Newton, executive VP of A&R for RCA. He succeeds David Weyner, who departs from his post as executive VP/GM for Arista Associated Labels.

Sources say Arista Associated VP of A&R Joe McEwen and director of A&R Jonathan Miller also have exited. Again, BMG refused to confirm or deny the departures or other possible staff changes within the RCA Victor Group.

The reformed RCA Victor Group comprises the Private Music, Windham Hill, Bluebird and Victor labels.

Its collective roster includes R&B/rock singer Etta James, pianists Jim Brickman (news) and George Winston and singer-songwriter Rachael Yamagata.

"Under this new structure, the RCA Victor Group will maintain its independent culture while benefiting from the depth of RCA Records' A&R and management strength," Charles Goldstuck, president/COO of BMG North America, said in a statement.

Arista's expected restructuring follows the termination of former president/CEO Antonio "L.A." Reid. He succeeded label founder Clive Davis in July 2000.

Davis has since been appointed chairman/CEO of BMG North America. Reid has moved on to Universal Music Group as chairman of Island Def Jam.

In recent weeks, the industry has seen UMG fold its DreamWorks label into Geffen Records and the Warner Music Group consolidate its venerable Atlantic and Elektra labels into a single operation.

(Ed Christman in New York contributed to this report.)

Reuters/Billboard

NEWSFILE: 12 MARCH 2004