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HipHop News: ARISTA MAKING CHANGES
CLIVE DAVIS - LA REID SITUATION BMG is set to approve the purchase of La Face Records, a move many consider to be the final act in naming LA Reid the President of Arista. The deal is reportedly worth $100M (bling! bling!) and will put the puzzle together of this BMG mystery. We all saw the signs months ago, in fact LA (a SP subscriber) has been in our "The Rumor Mill" several times. It was a combination of the following events that led us to our speculation:
*BMG sends Reid to the Harvard Business School Management program last year *Arista hires industry vet Michael Johnson as VP of Promotions as well as other major exec changes *Arista elevates Lionel Ridenour as Sr. VP Black Music This showdown has now pitted BMG's Strauss Zelnick and Clive Davis in a war that has erupted in an outpouring of support for Davis from executives and artists. Songwriter extraordinaire Dianne Warren says, "What is it with these corporations? Why would a company drive out the guy who created everything that the label stands for--and at the very moment when he is at his peak? Clive Davis is Arista Records. It just doesn't compute for me. Are they out of their minds?" If Davis quits before his contract expires in June, many predict that it will shake up Arista, which is 1/3 of BMG's market share. Clive Davis said, "I will be weighing BMG's offers to me which involve both preserving my legacy and, ironically, major support of a new public media company that I would be forming," Davis also said. "I am very moved by the overwhelming outpouring of support from my artists, the officers and employees of Arista and those in the industry."
UNIVERSIAL MUSIC ENTERS THE LATIN MARKET According to the LA Times, UMG has invested an undisclosed amount of money in Miami based Eritmo.com. The latin music website features news, fan club information, chat rooms, and webcasts of latin music.
JORDAN PARTY A SUCCESS IN LA We were in the house for the Brand Jordan party in LA and must say that Nike throws great parties. Attendees included Ice Cube, Wyclef, Tyson, Roy Jones, Jr. Shemar Moore, Kadeem Hardison, and others. The event was a small, intimate event for press and celebs and really offered each guests a chance to mingle with the man #23. MJ and Stevie Wonder talked about the "Overjoyed" TV spot and how great it was to work together. They even mentioned the need for bigger celebs to work together on projects. There was some alluding to a community project between Stevie and MJ. The guests were then entertained by a flawless Mary J. Blige performance. The entire party will be rebroadcast on NIKE.com next week. The winner of the MJ/Brand Jordan contest was JULI WYATT, CEO JAM SPORTS & ENT. Congratulations to her and good luck with her company.
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