It's
all over for Arista Records beginning today
and ending Friday when pink slips will be
handed out.
Arista is being absorbed by Bertelsmann Music
Group's RCA/J/Jive Records, where it will be
an imprint only, with no staff attached to it.
On Friday, all of the Arista folks are being
let go. Some will move to other labels at BMG,
but most will head to other companies or
unemployment.
Of course, there's lots of irony here: Arista
has the Grammy-winning, gazillion-selling
OutKast CD, "Speakerboxx/The Love
Below." It has also has the new CD by
Usher, which should be a monster hit this
week.
But something had to go at BMG, and it wasn't
going to be RCA. That's one of the most famous
names in media. And it wasn't going to be
Clive Davis's J Records, which has had hit
after hit since it started four years ago. It
wasn't going to be Jive, which boasts Britney,
Justin and all the teen stuff of the last few
years. So after 30 proud years, Arista will
fade to black.
I am told, by the way, that all the original
Arista artists -- Whitney Houston, Carlos
Santana, Sarah McLachlan, Dido, etc -- will
retain the Arista logo on their CDs. All of
the La Face artists who came with L.A. Reid --
like Usher and OutKast -- will head to Jive
Records. Meanwhile, the offices Arista just
moved into recently -- fancy new digs on
Seventh Avenue -- are being shown by realtors
right now.
-Roger Friedman
Resource(s):
FoxNews Fox411
 Do
you know any Whitney-related articles that's not already listed
on these pages? Please share your info with other fans,
submit your article details to the NewsDesk.
|
SAY
GOODBYE TO ARISTA RECORDS