After he created himself a pretty rich career, while being
chairman and chief executive of the BMG Label Group, the 74-year-old Clive
Davis has decided that it’s time for a younger man to take his place. As a
result, the new chairman and CEO of BMG will be the 49-year-old Barry Weiss,
the chief of the company’s Zomba Label Group. Sony BMG Music Entertainment
announced this change on Thursday.
However, Davis
will not leave Sony BMG Music Entertainment. He will be given another job into
the company. The pioneering recording executive will take the role of chief
creative officer of Sony BMG Music, which includes RCA Records, Jive, LaFace
and Arista, which was founded by Clive Davis in 1974. Overall holdings of Sony
BMG also include Columbia
and Epic Records.
In the past 4 decades, Davis
has helped a vast number of artists to raise their popularity, such as Whitney
Houston, Justin Timberlake and also Britney Spears. Furthermore, he also contributed
to Janis Joplin, Santana and Bruce Springsteen’s success. Some of the former “American
Idol” contestants also had to benefit from Davis’ help. These are Kelly Clarkson, Carrie
Underwood and also Chris Daughtry. But, “Idol” was not enough for him. Davis oriented his
attention on “X Factor,” the British brother of “Idol.” The 23-year-old Leona Lewis’
debut album, “Spirit,” reached No.1, with 205,000 copies sold last week, also
due to Davis. Lewis is one of the "X Factor" winners.
"Leona Lewis will not be an overnight sensation," Davis said in a statement
Wednesday. "She is the real deal and this is just the beginning of a long
and illustrious career." Meanwhile, Mr. Weiss, was involved in raising the
success of artists like Chris Brown and T-Pain.
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