Today, it was rumored that Island/Def Jam, a combination of Island records, Motown records and Def Jam records, was no more. The trio was to split up today and all three will go back to being independently run entities.
According to Variety they break-up will go like this
Def Jam: Steve Bartels, the former President/COO of Island Def Jam Music Group, will now be the CEO of Def Jam. Meanwhile, Dion “No I.D.” Wilson and Kyambo “Hip Hop” Joshua will be executive VPs and co-heads of A&R.
Motown: The label will move from NY to LA, and former Motown Senior Vice President Ethiopia Habtemariam is now it’s lady President.
Karen Kwok has been named Executive Vice President of A&R for all of UMG’s labels in the US. Barry Weiss, the former Jive Records head will be getting his walking papers, but should land comfortably on his feet. A UMG press release states that Weiss is in talks with the company for a new venture all together.
“At UMG, our labels are empowered to be entrepreneurial and take creative risks. By re-establishing Def Jam, Island and Motown as standalone labels within the UMG family, we’re positioning them to recapture the uniqueness of their brands and serve artists with the singularity of vision, focus and creativity that was at the core of their original success.” -Lucian Grange, CEO of Universal Music Group.”
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