swire: All DIRECT Ne Arista's Clive Davis Addresses Retirement

Clive Davis - 11/17/1999 at 10:16:31



"I would like to make it clear that I have no plans whatsoever to retire.
At age 66, I am absolutely at the peak of my powers producing the Carlos
Santana and Whitney Houston albums, each of which is generating
spectacular multi-platinum sales. Arista itself has never been more
successful in both sales and profits. BMG has called Arista its 'crown
jewel' for many years and that crown has never shined more brightly, with
more new artists breaking and more established artists reaching new peaks
than ever before.
"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. I am also very moved by the overwhelming outpouring
of support from my artists, the officers and employees of Arista and
those in the industry. I fully intend to live up to my contract ending
June 30, 2000, and celebrate by far the greatest year in our twenty-five
year history, culminating in the two-hour network NBC special in the
spring of 2000 called 'Arista's 25 Years of #1 Hits.'"