*** - CLIVE DAVIS OUSTED AS SONYBMG CHIEF****************

Until this week, the rules of the music industry didn't apply to
Clive Davis. At 76, Davis held the top job at SonyBMG's BMG Music
Group, playing Svengali to teen idols like Kelly Clarkson and
Alicia Keys. On Thursday, however, SonyBMG removed Davis from his
post. He will hold the amorphous title of "chief creative
officer" at the company, while still working with a handful of
acts. But the BMG Music Group will now be overseen by Barry
Weiss, CEO of SonyBMG's Zomba label, who is younger - and
presumably less expensive than his predecessor.

http://tinyurl.com/3gvntq


they can only look at it like it's no different than General Dynamics or
GE. WHY? Why can't they call him what the record business traditionally
has called him? You're right, he's the executive in charge of A&R, so why
not call him that? Because Wall St. doesn't understand what an A&R guru
is, that's why. They know what a three letter title that starts with C
means, though. It's not about aligning the company correctly, it's about
making sure Wall St. is happy, which just underscores how completely NOT
in the music business the major record labels are.

Despite their concerns about
needing a succession strategy for a 76-year old exec, who is 11 years past
that company's nominal mandatory retirement age (remember, he was pushed out
before, in favor of LA Reid, because of that, but ascended back up after his
joint venture record company, J Records, did well and they bought a bigger
stake, or maybe it was even the rest of the company), I believe Clive's
stuff, such as the record company side of the American Idol franchise, is
still doing relatively well as modern day major label stuff goes.