L.A. Reid To Run Epic Records

[Arabella21]

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/x-factor-judge-la-reid-202098

'X Factor' Judge L.A. Reid to Run Epic Records

7:05 PM 6/15/2011 by Shirley Halperin


The newly restructured Epic Label Group will combine the rosters of Jive and Epic and reunite the executive with Usher and Pink, two artists he discovered and helped develop.


In what is perhaps the music industry’s worst kept secret, THR has learned definitively that X Factor judge and former Island Def Jam chairman Antonio “L.A.” Reid is headed to Sony Music. He will take on the chairman title at the soon-to-be restructured Epic Label Group, which will encompass Jive Records and reunite Reid with two artists he discovered and developed: Usher and Pink.

Sources tells THR the 55-year-old executive is expected to arrive at 550 Madison just after the fourth of July holiday (Sony Entertainment’s new chief executive Doug Morris officially takes the reigns on July 1). In his new position, Reid will inherit the label last helmed by songwriter Amanda Ghost, whose controversial one-year stint nearly destroyed the company. Since her exit in late 2010, things have quieted some, but hits are still hard to come by, despite some significant strides, namely breaking The Script and, on a smaller scale, Denmark's Oh Land.

In terms of new signings, the Reid era has already begun. According to an insider, Epic recently signed the girl-guy duo Karmin, who gained instant notoriety with their Youtube hit cover of Chris Brown and Lil Wayne’s “Look at Me Now,” which is currently at 21 million views and counting.

It's also anticipated that Reid will steer the company towards more urban releases, which may not bode well for the label's rock acts, including Incubus, whose first album since 2006, If Not Now, When?, is due out July 12, and Augustana, whose Epic debut was released in April after Ghost's tenure sidetracked the record.

As for the Jive Records roster, Epic will absorb some of those artists, including Pink and Usher, both originally signed through Reid’s LaFace Records, which entered into a joint venture partnership with BMG-owned Arista Records in 1989. Other marquee Jive acts, like Britney Spears, will likely stay with the RCA half of the former RCA/Jive Label Group. Another name staffers are curious about? Outkast, and whether the duo will reunite with Reid, who ran Arista Records from 2000 to 2004 (during which they won six Grammys), and at long last release new music.

It’s only one of many unanswered questions currently facing the music business as it readies for a massive executive shuffle. Still up in the air is the leadership structure at RCA, with names like Tom Corson and Peter Edge bandied about, plus there’s Sylvia Rhone, whose future at Universal has yet to be determined, though many continue to speculate that Universal Motown will be no more by the end of this week. Might she land at Sony with her mentor and longtime supporter Morris?

And how about the Sony Music recording contract awarded by X Factor? Could the winner end up at Epic under the watchful eye of the person who knows their talent best -- the judge offering feedback, however harsh, week in, week out? The show and creator Simon Cowell have yet to announce which label will issue the record deal and astronomical $5 million prize that comes with it -- perhaps the latter can come out of Cowell's petty cash fund.

For now, what we do know is that Reid has beautifully executed a career arc that brings him back to the place where he first made a name for himself and launched two of his most successful and resilient acts. The irony: that after wooing Jennifer Lopez to Island Def Jam, where she’s seen more music buzz with her latest single “On the Floor” than anything she’s put out in the last decade, he’ll now be running the label that essentially dropped her.

A spokesperson for Sony Music declined to comment.

[MikeCheck12]

Ouch - good luck with that.

[Sir Benji]

Sony is crashing & burning atm and how ironic is it that Ciara was released from Jive when the man who signed her is coming back there to run thing. I wouldn't be shocked if Jive & RCA dropped a lot of their artists

[Deleted]

Interesting. I'm surprised that P!nk seems to be headed to the new Epic/Jive though, even with her previous ties to LA Reid. If Epic is indeed going to lean urban she would really make a lot more sense with RCA's roster, and I'm certain RCA would be genuinely happy to have her (as opposed to a minor Jive artist that they'll probably ignore for one album and then drop).

Aside from P!nk it's pretty obvious which artists on Jive would be headed to Epic and which would go to RCA. The only three I can't really call are:
- Justin Timberlake - does he even want to make music anymore, for one thing. But aside from that he could fit in well on either label. They'd probably let him choose.
- Kris Allen - RCA would ignore him. Epic has The Fray and The Script so Kris makes sense there on paper, but if Reid doesn't plan on really paying much attention to those two bands it doesn't make much sense to add in another artist of that type. He may be in a damned either way scenario here, which is a bummer to me. I really like him a lot.
- Weird Al - erm...yeah. I suppose 'the best fit' is irrelevant in this case.

Interested in seeing what Reid does with Karmin.

[David]

Pink & LA Reid love eachother. I'm sure she had a choice and chose him. RCA isn't exactly moving those records either. Lol. She does seem rather random on that list though, but she was always random on LaFace. Maybe she figures if she's the only pop/rock act, then LA will let her do what she wants. She got her way with Missundaztood, and we saw how that turned out.

[cking33]

Could this pave the way for an eventual return of Mariah to Sony?

[reidster]

Possibility of LA Reid being reunited with Avril? Surely if Pink can be on Epic, Avril could too. Although I'm not sure RCA is ready to let her switch, despite Goodbye Lullaby's CD sales, she's still one of RCA's strongest at this point.

[Deleted]

Jun 16, 2011 2:15:04 GMT -5 David said:

Pink & LA Reid love eachother. I'm sure she had a choice and chose him. RCA isn't exactly moving those records either. Lol. She does seem rather random on that list though, but she was always random on LaFace. Maybe she figures if she's the only pop/rock act, then LA will let her do what she wants. She got her way with Missundaztood, and we saw how that turned out.

As to RCA not moving records, that's exactly why they would want her! LOL I love Kelly but from a label perspective they can't be too comfortable about her almost literally being the only big basket for them to put their eggs in this year. But yeah, if she got to choose (and she is big enough that she likely had that luxury, unlike most) then it does make perfect sense she chose LA. Kelly and Avril's battles with RCA are well-known so understandably one would be leery of that. (whereas she's the one who convinced Reid to let her change to pop-rock so he probably really will let her do what she wants, she's already proven she can win him over)

Avril probably still has an album or more in her contract with RCA and even though Goodbye Lullaby hasn't done so hot here, it's done better WW, no? I'll have to check...but point being, she still earns her keep so they probably aren't going to let her go without a buyout.

Mariah may very well go to Epic eventually. Even if IDJ treats her well still, she may not feel 100% comfortable without LA there in her corner. This is corny but I just got excited at the thought of Mariah and P!nk one day being label mates.

[Me. I Am l!nk!nfan815...]

Jun 16, 2011 3:27:15 GMT -5 cking33 said:

Could this pave the way for an eventual return of Mariah to Sony?

I think its very possible.
I believe Mariah has one more album in her contract with Island and it might come out before the end of this year. Afterwards she might jump ships with Reid; especially since Mariah is set to be part of The X-Factor in someway. They'll see each other, talk about things....etc.

We'll see.

[#LisaRinna]

Mimi needs to stay away from that man. He turned 2 of her albums into flops with his poor single choices.
IDJ is her home now and I hope she's staying there. Rihanna's contract may be up soon, so maybe she'll go with him.

[Sir Benji]

Well Mariah was on Sony before so it'll be interesting to see what she does, and Mariah Carey has already given IDJ 5 albums and I'm not sure if she'll resign with them or not. I'm still disappointed that Angels Advocate was cancelled.

I'm pretty sure Rihanna's contract with IDJ will end after the promotion of Loud.

[tsw2008]

I could see Epic dropping a bunch of artists, some will definitely move over to RCA if Epic will really become urban leaning.

[#LisaRinna]

Is it really bad that Epic is going to be Urban-leaning? The majority of R&B acts are on IDJ or Universal Motown right now, I think. They should be more spread out..

[David]

Jun 16, 2011 11:18:51 GMT -5 @cynthiarose said:

This is corny but I just got excited at the thought of Mariah and P!nk one day being label mates.

I love it! Their kids could have play dates together. I also think their voices could blend really well together. Especially Mariah's current voice, which is raspier than it was back in the day.

[Deleted]

His handling of artists has been a lot shakier in the past several years than it was in the 90s.

[David]

Jun 16, 2011 12:17:14 GMT -5 #LisaRinna said:

Is it really bad that Epic is going to be Urban-leaning? The majority of R&B acts are on IDJ or Universal Motown right now, I think. They should be more spread out..

Not to mention, LaFace was VERY Urban leaning. I remember checking their roster a few years ago, and P!nk was the only one who wasn't Urban. lol

Does this mean Justin Bieber is going to Epic too? Usher got him signed, so thats why I'm curious..

[Deleted]

Jun 16, 2011 13:54:46 GMT -5 David said:

Jun 16, 2011 12:17:14 GMT -5 #LisaRinna said:

Is it really bad that Epic is going to be Urban-leaning? The majority of R&B acts are on IDJ or Universal Motown right now, I think. They should be more spread out..

Not to mention, LaFace was VERY Urban leaning. I remember checking their roster a few years ago, and P!nk was the only one who wasn't Urban. lol

Does this mean Justin Bieber is going to Epic too? Usher got him signed, so thats why I'm curious..

LaFace was basically an urban offshoot of Arista. P!nk was signed as an urban artist, so she fit the label when she was originally signed. By her second album she really deviated from what was common at that label.

[David]

Jun 16, 2011 13:58:59 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

Jun 16, 2011 13:54:46 GMT -5 David said:

Not to mention, LaFace was VERY Urban leaning. I remember checking their roster a few years ago, and P!nk was the only one who wasn't Urban. lol

Does this mean Justin Bieber is going to Epic too? Usher got him signed, so thats why I'm curious..

LaFace was basically an urban offshoot of Arista. P!nk was signed as an urban artist, so she fit the label when she was originally signed. By her second album she really deviated from what was common at that label.

Oh I know. I just think that Epic part now looks like what LaFace used to. All these mergers, separations, etc, really get confusing. lol

I am a little worried about P!nk, since, like you said, LA Reid has been making questionable choices the past few years, but I'm hoping it works out. I mean, Rihanna worked out, so, he didn't do all bad. He definitely made some questionable choices regarding Mimi, but it could of just been that they didn't see eye to eye on a lot of things.

[Deleted]

Jun 16, 2011 12:17:14 GMT -5 #LisaRinna said:

Is it really bad that Epic is going to be Urban-leaning? The majority of R&B acts are on IDJ or Universal Motown right now, I think. They should be more spread out..

It's not bad, it's just that the pop and pop-rock artists that Jive currently has are more likely to get screwed than the urban ones. Epic won't really want them apparently, but RCA has all it can handle as it is. Other than Britney I can't see RCA really being excited at the prospect of taking on more weight...so if I were on Jive right now I'd be hoping that there is some way that Epic would take an interest in me, because RCA is more likely to have no use for me, neglect my next era, and drop me as soon as it gets the chance. Not really a fun time to be a major label artist.

[#LisaRinna]

Jun 16, 2011 13:52:54 GMT -5 David said:

Jun 16, 2011 11:18:51 GMT -5 @cynthiarose said:

This is corny but I just got excited at the thought of Mariah and P!nk one day being label mates.

I love it! Their kids could have play dates together. I also think their voices could blend really well together. Especially Mariah's current voice, which is raspier than it was back in the day.

I'd love for them to write together. A ballad.
And Moroccan Scott should (play)date P!nk's daughter. Monroe is going to marry Beyoncé's future son instead

Jun 16, 2011 13:58:59 GMT -5 @jazzysoul47 said:

LaFace was basically an urban offshoot of Arista. P!nk was signed as an urban artist, so she fit the label when she was originally signed.

Yeah weren't Toni Braxton and TLC there too? And was LA Reid Whitney's boss during the Just Whitney era?

[#LisaRinna]

Jun 16, 2011 14:35:56 GMT -5 @cynthiarose said:

Jun 16, 2011 12:17:14 GMT -5 #LisaRinna said:

Is it really bad that Epic is going to be Urban-leaning? The majority of R&B acts are on IDJ or Universal Motown right now, I think. They should be more spread out..

It's not bad, it's just that the pop and pop-rock artists that Jive currently has are more likely to get screwed than the urban ones. Epic won't really want them apparently, but RCA has all it can handle as it is. Other than Britney I can't see RCA really being excited at the prospect of taking on more weight...so if I were on Jive right now I'd be hoping that there is some way that Epic would take an interest in me, because RCA is more likely to have no use for me, neglect my next era, and drop me as soon as it gets the chance. Not really a fun time to be a major label artist.

Well I can see that being a problem, but I think record labels shouldn't be like radio formats signing acts exclusively of one genre. Their acts should represent more than one genre imo.

[Chelsea Press 2]

This is such a mess. That headline should read "L.A. Reid To Ruin Epic Records"

[Peaches. [Ch, r. is]]

Jun 16, 2011 15:12:09 GMT -5 Push The Button said:

This is just now breaking? I had gotten word that this was happening back in April. Surprised it's taken this long to break.

[David]

Jun 16, 2011 15:13:55 GMT -5 Chelsea Press 2 said:

This is such a mess. That headline should read "L.A. Reid To Ruin Epic Records"

Ruin? Its already in the ground.. lol

[Deleted]

Jun 16, 2011 15:05:19 GMT -5 #LisaRinna said:

Yeah weren't Toni Braxton and TLC there too? And was LA Reid Whitney's boss during the Just Whitney era?

Yes. LA Reid was head of Arista from July 2000 through January 2004.

Jun 16, 2011 15:06:54 GMT -5 #LisaRinna said:

Jun 16, 2011 14:35:56 GMT -5 @cynthiarose said:

It's not bad, it's just that the pop and pop-rock artists that Jive currently has are more likely to get screwed than the urban ones. Epic won't really want them apparently, but RCA has all it can handle as it is. Other than Britney I can't see RCA really being excited at the prospect of taking on more weight...so if I were on Jive right now I'd be hoping that there is some way that Epic would take an interest in me, because RCA is more likely to have no use for me, neglect my next era, and drop me as soon as it gets the chance. Not really a fun time to be a major label artist.

Well I can see that being a problem, but I think record labels shouldn't be like radio formats signing acts exclusively of one genre. Their acts should represent more than one genre imo.

I think it depends on the label. There are obviously certain labels that specialize in certain kinds of music. There are labels entirely devoted to hip-hop, or country, or hard rock, or jazz, etc. The people at those labels specialize in signing that kind of talent, what's popular in that market, and marketing that kind of talent. However, those types of labels are usually imprints of other major labels.

[¤ Matthea ¤]

Jun 16, 2011 15:18:23 GMT -5 David said:

Jun 16, 2011 15:13:55 GMT -5 Chelsea Press 2 said:

This is such a mess. That headline should read "L.A. Reid To Ruin Epic Records"

Ruin? Its already in the ground.. lol

Yup, I don't think it can get any worse than it already is.

Read this: Who destroyed Epic Records?

[groovy]

Chris & Jordin to Epic pleaseee

[Epic Fail]

So, L.A gets all the black people except Beyonce and Alcia Keys and everyone else goes to RCA?

[David]

Jun 16, 2011 23:11:17 GMT -5 Epic Fail said:

So, L.A gets all the black people except Beyonce and Alcia Keys and everyone else goes to RCA?

P!nk isn't black... lol

[Sir Benji]

I wonder if Jamie Foxx, Alicia Keys, Monica, Fantasia and Jennifer Hudson will be moved over to Epic, and isn't Epic already merged with Columbia? I hope Natasha Bedingfield isn't dropped. I said it once and I'll say it again Sony is a MESS.

Universal seems to be the only label group that's doing really well at the moment.