Clive Down, Jive’s Weiss Up At SonyBMG

PLUS A COMMENTARY

The legendary Clive Davis has been replaced by Zomba/Jive’s Barry Weiss
as Chairman and CEO of the BMG Label Group. Davis, who is 74, has been named to the newly minted post of Chief Creative Officer. Charles Goldstuck, Davis’ close
associate and President and COO of the BMG label
group as well as Tim Bowan, Sony BMG’s COO have also departed in the shake-up.

Clive Davis’s career reaches back to signings from Janis Joplin to Bruce Springsteen through Witney Houston and Alicia Keys.  In his new roll, Davis will continue to work creatively with some of the company’s top talent. Weiss came to prominence as part of the team that built the Zomba Jive group from the ground up into a hit making powerhouse that includes Britney Spears, Usher, Justin Timberlake and T-Pain.

MEET THE NEW BOSS. SAME AS THE OLD BOSS.

Commentary: Most early reaction from the music press dubs this a change of the guard; and generationally, they are correct. Weiss is 25 years younger than Davis.

But Clive still has a place a the table. And both men are creations of label machines that manufactured hits by throwing big money and massive resources at select releases. Now money and manpower are in far shorter supply; and the wisdom as well return on investment of expensive campaigns have diminished in an era of short attention spans, fractured media, and falling sales.

Sony BMG may have a younger man at the helm, but this is not the seismic shift that they need.