This was on the FoxNews site. I was just discussing Mr.Reid, Clive Davis, and Prince the other day on this board. Who is really surprised he got the boot?


Of course, Reid came into Arista under the worst circumstances, succeeding Clive Davis after 25 glorious years. The press was mean to him — myself included — but he played into it.

Reid was chosen for the job by Strauss Zelnick, who stuck by him but eventually got fired along with Michael Dornemann for being dumb enough to toy around with Davis. And we all know what happened next. Davis came back, started J Records, and has had hit after hit.

The rumor now is that Reid will wind up at the new Warner Records or at Universal Music Group. But the rumors are rampant now in the business since major layoffs of executives are imminent thanks to the mergers. At risk are Elektra's Sylvia Rhone, Atlantic's Val Azzoli and Craig Kallman, and Warner's Roger Ames.

Over at Universal, the big question is what will happen to Lyor Cohen. Will he stay, or move to Warner? And will Universal pay out $50 million to TVT Records to resolve the judgment against them caused by Cohen? I'm told they will.

Is this mess in the record industry all because of downloading? In a word: No. It's about radio being run by a monopoly, and A&R guys and gals who refuse to sign new talent with lasting futures. It's about rap and hip-hop junk, and sampling replacing actual composition. Ironically, Reid's greatest contribution to music — Outkast — is a keeper, an act with a career. But it was his reliance on the little stuff — Blu Cantrell, etc — that brought him down. And it will likely do the same to many of his colleagues.

How is this possible if he was partially responsible for the (mega) success Avril Lavigne last year?

I don't understand why he's being fired. Did he sleep-in and miss a morning of work ?

Yeah,I heard about this.I'm not the least bit surprised.But I can't understand why they ousted Clive Davis in the first place.He clearly KNOWS how to run a label,and his J Records label has been extremely successful.Oh well,maybe now he and Babyface can get back to producing again,as a team.


Looks like Clive Davis is having the last laugh
[This message was edited Wed Jan 14 4:53:27 PST 2004 by DavidEye]

laurarichardson said:

I wish every record executive would read this.

CinisterCee said:

For all of his succceses,LA Reid has also made several big mistakes since taking over at Arista...

***He lost P.Diddy and his successful Bad Boy Records label

***He lost Toni Braxton,one of their prized artists (she has since signed with another label).

***Recent albums by Whitney Houston,Kenny G and TLC haven't sold well (these artists used to be Arista's biggest-selling acts).Even Babyface's Arista debut wasn't really a big hit.

***The latest Pink CD isn't selling very well

Hip hop junk? Are we forgetting Kanye West? Who has had a substantial production career almost 5 years before he's coming out as a rapper as well? He has a very promising career and I was blessed to be part of a movement before it started to rumble.

Yeah that was a bad plug...but he was handed to me

http://www.urbanradiolive..._987.shtml

In any case, there are so many things going on within the corporate gammut that we are unaware of. Let's not forget, LA had to go to school to take over his position at Arista...
That very well may be the reason of the recording industry's demise...a lot of the folks (in urban especially) are not educated...and the doo doo is starting to hit the fan...homeboy hook-up can work for a while..until some real crucial things need to happen and those skills are not present. Anyone follow me or did I ramble agian?

A lot of rap is BS, but I still respect it and it's not the cause of an empire's demise. Let's keep it movin'

KatSkrizzle said:

Very good point.Remember in the mid 90s when Andre Harrell took over at Motown? I think he lasted only about two years...lol...he was more obsessed with promoting HIMSELF than with his own artists.

This is usually what happens when you sign hypemen (ie. Bonecrusher).

okaypimpn said:

Haha! EXCELLENT POINT!

KatSkrizzle said:

---
1% of rap is decent and those artist are not on the radio.
The other 99% is crap. Rap is one of the reasons the music industry is in the situation it is in. In addtion, Mr. Reid may not have had the education that is needed to be an executive. At least artist at Arista will not have to give Mr. Reid half of their publishing anymore.
[This message was edited Wed Jan 14 15:12:55 PST 2004 by laurarichardson]

DavidEye said:

THe Whitney thing is most shocking becuase he didn't even try with that record, IMHO. You have to least pump some money into advertising and getting the song on the radio. He also didn't go with the remix strategy. As I said in another thread, "Whatchu..." was a not only a terrible first single but was near invisible! His thing was trying to sell the next young, hot white thing and it worked for a little bit (I would hardly expect Avril's followup to be hit either) but now that it isn't working, he had to go.

And it would be great if he and Babyface would get back to producing together.

KatSkrizzle said:

Kayne West? You mean that chipmunk verison of "Through The Fire"? That is, as Simon would say, "Ghastly!". Hate to rain on your parade but holy crap that's awful!

As for Reid, he is a talent but he let his ego get in the way and ignored way to many big acts that happened to be older in favor of Pink and Avril.

VinnyM27 said:

Do you know what you're saying?!!! Kanye is the truth!!!

I'm just glad to see he's doing what hip-hop was based on...sampling.

Good riddance. Reid is the standing definition of what's wrong with the business end of music. He's wrecked more careers than he's helped and its been long overdue to "ol' yeller" his ass.
I only hope he's not replaced by someone worse.
What am I saying, OF COURSE he'll be! Oh well, NNEEXXTT!!!
Headz must roll!

BlaqueKnight said:

okaypimpn said:

---
Kayne West sucks. Please explain what the hell is so creative about sampling. Don't you get tired of hearing the same music over and over again.

okaypimpn said:

His style is aped so much it's become passe, unfortunately.

FYI: Kayne still can't touch Primo, a flawless technician. But I am a relatively old head, so I am biased.

DavidEye said:[quote]

CinisterCee said:

Toni braxton left because she was probably going to be dropped, her album flopped with her 'hoochie coohie' make over
and Kenny g and whitney have been selling great since Clive was there

thank good God almighty

namepeace said:

My brother said Kanyes album isnt really much 2 talk about and that he isnt really saying anything on the album and the beats all sound somewhat alike. I dunno what 2 believe, but that's still my homeboy. I wanna hear Primo's best work with sampling...where can i find sum gud stuff?

In speaking with a source from BMG (Arista's owner)...many factors were invlolved in the firing of LA Reid. Many that were mentioned above. Apparently he was escorted out the NYC building this morning!!! Here are some factors I heard...

-Arista Records came nowhere near it's end-of-fiscal forcast despite having a few strong releases (Outkast, Dido, Sarah Mclachlan)...but a slew of poor selling releases (namly..Pink, Neptunes)

-Whitney Houston's reported $100 million dollar contract. It was another Mariah/Virgin situation in which the label rewarded it's premier artist long AFTER her mega selling albums blew behind her.

-The loss of affiliated label Bad Boy was also a factor. With that they lost Puffy, Faith Evans, 112 to name a few..

All in all the bottom line was that Arista loss a ton of money and came nowhere near BMG's expectations.

peace

VANITYSprisonBYTCH said:

I always felt that LA made a huge mistake by giving Whitney a deal like that.Arista is gonna lose millions on a deal like that,because Whitney's career is at a dead end these days.

laurarichardson said:

get with evolution. we're living in an age of post modernism. Hip Hop is an example of it. Like I said I think a lot of hip hop sucks, but I'm not gonna be an old fuddy duddy music elitist...that shows my age...hmmm?
Now, where's my Large Professor album...

namepeace said:

Premo is the TRUTH. I wonder if Laura is a fan of Gangstarr...ahh probably not. Laura you are being pretentious

Some other projects and deals that LA Reid screwed up.Not sure if these projects would have been successful,but you never know...


***Jam and Lewis had plans for a new label called FlyteTyme Records,and LA Reid was gonna give them a distribution deal.But then he backed out of it.

***Babyface had plans for a new label called Nu America Records,to be distributed by Arista.But,as was the case with the Jam and Lewis deal,LA Reid backed out of it.


***It has long been *rumored* that Prince was interested in releasing another album on Arista.But during a meeting with Mr.Reid in 2000,he was told that he "must get someone to produce him".The deal never materialized.

DavidEye said:

wow, sounds like LA was scared. you know, scared money don't make money.

And with an artist like Prince...he is an artist that can survive WELL on fan base alone. The NPG website and club is 100 clams to join, he opens Paisley Park to the public for about 70 to 200 clams per event. His album sales!! He can sell them shits with no marketing push. AND he keeps all that cheddar (well most of it) to himself. I mean this man truly pimps the game.

I find it hypocritical of him to disapprove of corporate sponsorship when he pimps his listeners just like they do.

But anyway, that was dummy move on LA's part. Flyte Time and Prince could've potentially helped Arista eat for a few more years.

okaypimpn said:

gigglin

KatSkrizzle said:

---
Maybe you need to look up the word evolution. Repeating the same old beats over and over again is not creative. Black music is not evoling it is regressing. I don't need to hear
Kayne West rap over a old Chaka Khan tune. I have that Chaka Khan record already. I am not being a fuddy-duddy I am keeping it real. You only have to go back ten years ago and see that most of those rappers are not around anymore.
Sampling maybe the reason for the short life span of a rappers carreer.

KatSkrizzle said:

---
I am not a big fan of Gangstarr. I am not a big fan of rap.

Arista was stupid to get rid of Clive when he was still making hitworthy projects happen (like the Santana album, for one). After Clive left, they let alot of his projects die, and that was a shame. Oh well, at least they have Avril