By
LAURA M. HOLSON
Published: January 14, 2004
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 13 - Antonio Reid, the
studio executive largely responsible for
starting the careers of artists like Pink and
Avril Lavigne, abruptly resigned on Tuesday
from Arista Records, where he had been chief
executive for nearly four years.
BMG, the global music division of the German
conglomerate Bertelsmann, which owns Arista,
said it had no plans to replace Mr. Reid and
did not elaborate on his departure. But
according to two music executives who have
worked with Mr. Reid, steep financial losses
at the label were a factor.
Mr. Reid, who is known as L.A., has a
reputation as an executive with a deft eye for
talent, having fostered the careers of stars
like TLC and Toni Braxton. But he was also
known as a big spender, giving musicians
generous contracts and paying for lavish
marketing campaigns and videos.
Mr. Reid did not return two calls to his
office, and his assistant said he was out of
the office.
The chief executive of BMG, Rolf
Schmidt-Holtz, said little about the
departure, issuing a terse statement that said
of Mr. Reid: "His passion for working
with and developing some of the world's best
artists is unparalleled. I sincerely wish him
the best of luck in all future
endeavors."
Mr. Reid got his start as a producer in Los
Angeles and in 1989 co-founded LaFace Records.
He joined Arista in July 2000, succeeding
Clive Davis, who now runs RCA Records and J
Records, Arista's sister companies at BMG.
Mr. Reid's breakout year came in 2002, when he
seemed untouchable with young stars like Pink
and Ms. Lavigne, who eschewed the sugary pop
of Britney Spears and ruled the music charts.
Several Arista artists, including Usher and
OutKast, won Grammy Awards for albums released
that year.
But last year was trickier for Mr. Reid.
According to two music executives who have
worked with him, the losses at Arista last
year were too large to dismiss. While OutKast
remained a standout at Arista, earning six
Grammy nominations, blockbuster hopefuls like
Whitney Houston failed to ignite sales as
projected. Her last album, "Just
Whitney," entered the music charts at No.
9 in late 2002 and did not muster much
interest in 2003. Nor did Pink's most recent
release last fall, "Try This."
During the heady days of the music business,
less-than-stellar performance might be
overlooked. But with music sales faltering,
music executives are beholden to more
bottom-line-oriented corporate executives.
Just last year, Thomas D. Mottola, the
longtime chief executive of the Sony Music
Group, left the company after that division
suffered losses.
According to one person close to Arista, Mr.
Schmidt-Holtz encouraged Mr. Reid to review
costs, particularly in light of the proposed
merger of BMG and Sony, which is being
reviewed by European regulators. It is
possible that Arista could be merged into
another label to save costs, though one
company executive said there were no imminent
plans to do so.
It is unclear whether any of Arista's artists
will also leave. But one music executive said
several artists were shocked Mr. Reid was
leaving and were upset that he would no longer
be working with them.
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Resource(s):
New York Times
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EXECUTIVE OF ARISTA RESIGNS AMID STEEP LOSSES