'L.A.' Reid Named Chairman of Island Def Jam
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LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Universal Music Group, the world's biggest music company, said on Tuesday it named Antonio "L.A." Reid as chairman of its Island Def Jam Music Group division, effective Feb 12.



Universal Music is a unit of Vivendi Universal .


Reid, a Grammy Award-winning producer, comes to Island Def Jam about four weeks after he resigned as president and chief executive officer of Bertelsmann AG (news - web sites)'s Arista Records. That label had losses of more than $100 million in the past two years despite a roster of hit artists like OutKast, Avril Lavigne (news) and Dido. Hip-hop duo OutKast called him up on stage when it won the Grammy for album of the year on Sunday.


Reid had previously served as co-president of LaFace Records, which he co-founded in 1989 with producer-songwriter Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds.