Search Results for: The Home Team

Columbia Records Group said on Friday that Will Botwin was named president of the label, succeeding Don Ienner, who remains chairman. Ienner assumed the title of president in 1989 at age 36, making him the youngest president in the label’s 119-year history. He was also its longest-serving president. He became chairman in 1994. Columbia, home to such stars as Tony Bennett, Bob Dylan and Offspring, is a unit of Sony Music Entertainment, which is a unit of Sony Corp. Botwin joined the lable six years ago and was personally groomed by Ienner for the presidency. “I’ve been grooming Will for… Read more »

Island Def Jam Music Group President and CEO Lyor Cohen today announced the promotion of Julie Greenwald to President of Island Records. Greenwald had until this appointment served as Senior Vice President of marketing for The Island Def Jam Music Group. Also as part of this announcement, Cohen has named Greenwald and Def Jam/Def Soul Records President Kevin Liles to the additional positions of Executive Vice Presidents of The Island Def Jam Music Group. As President of Island, Greenwald will oversee all aspects of the label, which serves as the rock and pop division of The Island Def Jam Music… Read more »

Pressplay (www.pressplay.com), the online music service launched Dec. 19, is an order of magnitude better than rival MusicNet (www.musicnet.com), which launched Dec. 4. The gap is so great that I don’t think MusicNet deserves to sign up a single additional subscriber without first undertaking a major overhaul to match pressplay. Not that pressplay is perfect; the major record labels are still struggling to figure out how to sell their music online without opening the door to further piracy. But pressplay succeeds at delivering all three components of the online music experience: “streaming,” where you listen to songs without putting them… Read more »

As Epic Records commitment to artist development continued to flourish in 2001, Epic will bring an entirely new group of exciting artists to the stage in 2002. The Epic team will work as one cohesive unit towards our common goal: helping our artists rise to the top of the marketplace. EPIC RECORDS 2001 RECAP Flickerstick – Winners of the breakthrough VH1 series Bands on the Run released their major label debut Welcoming Home The Astronauts. The album was re-mixed by Tom Lord Alge (Weezer, Blink-182, Marilyn Manson) and includes two new songs, “Execution By X-mas Lights” and “Smile.” Flickerstick will… Read more »

Gavin, for more than forty years known as The Most Trusted Name In Radio, today confirmed the appointment of veteran radio programmer and air personality Wayne Coy to the post of Top-40/Rhythm Crossover Editor. Coy joins Gavin after 20 years in radio including stints in Norfolk/Virginia Beach, San Jose, Mobile, Green Bay and most recently, as Senior Program Director/Morning Driver at Sweet 98 (KQKQ-Omaha). “Gavin is known as the most trusted name in radio for a reason. Bill Gavin and Dave Sholin were two of the biggest influences on me as a broadcaster and being given the chance to continue… Read more »

Miami-based rap group, No Good, who have just signed a recording contract with Ted Field’s ARTISTdirect Records, have found themselves not only in the recording studio making their debut album, but in the Miami Hurricane’s locker room acting as “championship inspiration.” No Good’s song, “Ballin’ Boy,” has been adopted by the Miami Hurricanes as the team’s “fight song,” and has been played in the locker room to get the players psyched up before a game. And it’s apparently been working, as the Hurricanes are the undisputed No. 1 college team in the country, having been undefeated this entire season. A… Read more »

Vivendi Universal (NYSE: V; Paris Bourse: EX FP) announced today it has extended for five more years the contracts of Ron Meyer, President and Chief Operating Officer, Universal Studios, and Stacey Snider, Chairman, Universal Pictures. In making the announcement, Jean-Marie Messier, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Vivendi Universal, said, “I am thrilled to recognize the extraordinary accomplishments of these two outstanding leaders. As the head of Universal Studios Group’s businesses, Ron has brought the studio to new heights. With the recent creation of Vivendi Universal Entertainment (VUE), Ron, under the leadership of Barry Diller, will now expand his responsibilities… Read more »

Rudy Giuliani makes his last appearance in his role of mayor on this week’s “Saturday Night Live.” Ellen DeGeneres is hosting the year finale. Lorne Michaels will launch “SNL’s” Colin Quinn as host of his own series from New York, starting March 4. And on May 4, Michaels will executive produce a giant, live, three-hour NBC special celebrating the network’s 75th anniversary. He tells me the show “will pay respects to entertainment, news and sports.” It will emanate from Studio 8H, home to “SNL.” The studio has been a TV landmark since 1937 when a live premiere concert by the… Read more »

Four years after the divorce, Vivendi Universal and USA Networks are poised to tie the knot again in a $12.4 billion deal, expected to be announced today in New York. The deal will put the TV assets acquired by USA in 1997 back under Universal’s control and install USA chairman and CEO Barry Diller as the head of the studio’s film, TV and theme park operations. Sources said the complex transaction was structured as the creation of a joint venture between Vivendi Uni and USA encompassing Universal’s film studio and theme parks and USA’s cable channels, including USA Network and… Read more »

From his humble beginnings as an Oakland A’s batboy to his phenomenal success with the 1990 cross-over hit, “U Can’t Touch This,” MC Hammer rose to the top faster than any rap act in music history. But less than five years later, he had completely lost his more than $30 million dollar fortune. The music-filled dramatic biography “Too Legit: The MC Hammer Story” stars Romany Malco in the title role of this true story about the ’90s rap- music phenomenon who soared to the top – and then lost it all. Tangi Miller also stars in the VH1 Original Movie,… Read more »