Monday, April 21st, 2008
Press On BMG Shakeup
“All the bodies haven’t fallen yet,” said one source close to SonyBMG, noting that all the moves announced yesterday pertained to the BMG side of the business. “They still have to deal with the Sony side,” this source added. According to this source and one other, SonyBMG Chairman and CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz mandated the moves, which include elevating Barry Weiss to Davis’ old position, to shake up a unit he perceived as stagnating. “He didn’t see much action from these guys, but he did see their very high salaries,” the source said. Sources said the executive suite shuffle could be a prelude to a break-up or sale of SonyBMG in the next 12-18 months. (via NY Post)
“I’m told that Davis and Goldstuck didn’t know until it happened that BMG’s Rolf Schmidt Holtz had pulled the trigger and that their careers had been uprooted. Even Davis’s attorney, Allen Grubman, who knows everything, didn’t realize what was happening until it was too late. Of course, their “larger picture” is the bottom line, the succession of executives and who gets a bigger corner office. It has nothing to do with the future of the record business or any passion for the music. Otherwise, Schmidt Holtz and his other cronies wouldn’t have made such a miserable showing of ousting the man behind the current No. 1 album (by Leona Lewis), the biggest album so far of the year (Alicia Keys) or the one man with whom anything positive about the business is still identified. (via Fox)
