Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
From today's Nashville Tennessean: Shakeup swallows Decca By Jay Orr and Tom Roland / Tennessean Staff Writers Decca Records closed shop, Mercury Records trimmed its artist roster, and MCA Records fired staff yesterday as Nashville felt the impact of a national corporate overhaul. Decca, a historically significant label in Nashville, was a subsidiary of MCA Records. MCA's parent company, Seagram, bought Mercury's parent company, PolyGram, last year, and yesterday slashed staff and artist rosters in all of its offices. The moves are designed to streamline the umbrella company Universal Music Group, which distributes music from all the merged labels. Five hundred employees were terminated nationally at numerous labels, with 700 more cuts expected within the next nine months. "In the end we'll have a fairly lean organization as these labels are merged. ... It gives us an advantage in terms of our margins," said a source within the company. "When you have the best of the best of two rosters going out through a leaner organization, you're in pretty good shape." Country hitmakers Mark Chesnutt, Lee Ann Womack and Gary Allan are all being shifted from the Decca roster to MCA. The label's remaining artists -- including Dolly Parton and Rhett Akins -- were let go. No artists already signed to MCA were terminated. Mercury dropped honky-tonk favorite John Anderson, comedian Rodney Carrington and newcomer Jenny Simpson, whose debut album had not yet been released. The label also cut one support staffer in its marketing department. The consolidation created confusion across Music Row yesterday. Universal, however, acknowledged its moves with a sketchy, unspecific three-paragraph release issued from its West Coast office. Local employees were tight-lipped. Mercury Nashville and MCA Nashville will continue as separate labels under the agreement. Mercury still will be led by president Luke Lewis. MCA Nashville remains under the direction of chairman Bruce Hinton and president Tony Brown. Mark Wright, who was in charge of finding talent and songs for Decca, is expected to move to MCA. The label held discussions with him yesterday to work out the details. Enzo DeVincenzo, a regional record promoter based in Dallas, will also shift from Decca to MCA. The remainder of the Decca staff -- seven full-time and four temporary employees -- lost their jobs. Two of the employees who are now without jobs had been associated with MCA and Decca for at least 14 years -- marketing executive Phil Hart and Shelia Shipley Biddy. When Decca reopened, Shipley became the first woman to jointly head a major record label in Nashville. Some of the employees who were ousted experienced both disappointment and relief at yesterday's developments, which ended three months of uncertainty about their futures. No MCA artists were let go. The MCA roster includes George Strait, Vince Gill, Reba McEntire and Trisha Yearwood. MCA let six employees go, according to a source with close ties to the company. Those remaining at Mercury include such successful mainstream country acts as Shania Twain, Toby Keith, Terri Clark, Sammy Kershaw, Kathy Mattea and Mark Wills. Mercury also boasts a stable of quality alternative country and roots-rock acts, such as Neil Coty, Kim Richey and William Topley. Seagram's $10.4 billion buyout of PolyGram was finalized Dec. 10, with an expectation that combining labels would save $300 million. "While change is always difficult, the restructuring of the labels is necessary for us to be more competitive, develop artists' careers and pave the way for meaningful growth in the future," the Universal release stated. Nationally, the consolidation realigned a number of labels, including Island, Geffen, AM and Interscope. As many as three-quarters of the labels' acts may be purged, according to the current issue of Rolling Stone. Artists on those labels include Sheryl Crow, U2, Aerosmith, Beck and B.B. King. Boyz II Men was officially shifted yesterday from Motown Records to Universal Records. The timing was particularly ironic for country singer Mark Chesnutt, who kicked off a Seagram-sponsored three-month tour Wednesday at Ryman Auditorium. Chesnutt's version of the Aerosmith pop hit I Don't Want to Miss a Thing is the only Decca or MCA single currently in country's Top 10, and an album of the same name is slated for a Feb. 9 release date. The album still is expected to hit stores that day. Reflecting the confusion surrounding the event, Dolly Parton still did not know by 5:30 p.m. yesterday that Decca had dropped her, a Parton spokesman said. When an artist is dropped by the record label, the act essentially becomes a free agent, able to pursue a recording deal with other companies. When, for example, Steve Wariner and Arista Records parted ways last year, Wariner received offers from several Nashville labels, eventually signing with Capitol. The merger also may affect Nashville-based rock acts.
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
And so the shake out continues. Shame about Decca, the best of the mainstream labels. Here's hoping Danni Leigh and Dolly both end up somewhere they will be appreciated. Rhett, Shane and the rest of the roster that got dropped won't be too missed by this old boy. Just goes to show that the turndown in mainstream country is continuing, maybe even accelerating. NOW ONLINE, www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry netcast 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net
RE: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
And so the shake out continues. Shame about Decca, the best of the mainstream labels. Yup. Here's hoping Danni Leigh and Dolly both end up somewhere they will be appreciated. Yup. Rhett, Shane and the rest of the roster that got dropped won't be too missed by this old boy. Stockton has some potential, musically speaking. I'd add him to the Dolly/Danni list. Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
Chris Orlet writes: It gives us an advantage in terms of our margins," said a source within the company. Just makes me feel all warm/fuzzy inside to know they are looking out for their margins. The artists, employees, screw em. I liked this one (from the Universal press release): "While change is always difficult, the restructuring of the labels is necessary for us to be more competitive, develop artists' careers and pave the way for meaningful growth in the future," As opposed to the meaningless growth that they had in the past? "...develop artists' careers" Well, except for the ones that they dropped. I love corporate-speak press releases. There's a section of the "Dilbert" webpage that allows you to create your own. It's pretty hilarious. Check it out sometime. --Jon Johnson [EMAIL PROTECTED] Wollaston, Massachusetts
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
That's *terrible* news. Decca was one of the few bright spots in modern Nashville, with a strong commitment to quality, neo-trad country: Lee Ann Womack, Gary Allan, Dolly, Chris Knight, Danni Leigh, Mark Chesnutt -- they had the best damn roster in that town.--don
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: From today's Nashville Tennessean: Shakeup swallows Decca . As many as three-quarters of the labels' acts may be purged, according to the current issue of Rolling Stone. I'm probably real stupid but just how does this "develop" artists? This obviously hsa absolutely nothing to do with music or art or humanity for that matter. It simply has to do with greed and maximizing profits. And as for diversity in music available for purchase and airplay, sounds like an "oh well" to me. As for MCA not cutting artists at this time, it was my understanding that they had already, at least in part done that, with the like of Joe Ely taking the first big bites. My own guess on this is that anyone not in the predominant format genres will be looking for new new homes. That would include most alt or insurgent country acts, folk, and AAA artists. This is going to interesting to watch as an outsider but I would hate like hell to be on the inside of this at this juncture. My best wishes go to all the employees and artists receiving pink slips. And maybe, over the long run Seagram's will end up shooting themselves slightly above the foot Iceman
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
On Fri, 22 Jan 1999 [EMAIL PROTECTED] posted: Country hitmakers Mark Chesnutt, Lee Ann Womack and Gary Allan are all being shifted from the Decca roster to MCA. The label's remaining artists -- including Dolly Parton and Rhett Akins -- were let go. No artists already signed to MCA were terminated. and No MCA artists were let go. The MCA roster includes George Strait, Vince Gill, Reba McEntire and Trisha Yearwood. MCA let six employees go, according to a source with close ties to the company. Wasn't MCA's purge last summer? I remember Joe Ely and a few others were released just before he played here in August. Bob
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
Perhaps Chris Knight will latch onto a label and put out the record that some had hoped he'd put out in the first place -- with his harder-edged tunes. -- Terry Smith, from the new iMac at work, which has a bizarre interface for terry's text-based e-mail account
RE: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
No artists already signed to MCA were terminated. and No MCA artists were let go. The MCA roster includes George Strait, Vince Gill, Reba McEntire and Trisha Yearwood. MCA let six employees go, according to a source with close ties to the company. Wasn't MCA's purge last summer? I remember Joe Ely and a few others were released just before he played here in August. The only other one I recall being named, and that wasn't at exactly the same time, was George Jones; someone posted an article from an Austin publication, I believe, that mentioned Ely and Jones and not anyone else that I can remember - and, as we all recall, Jones wasn't exactly dropped. Of course, that still makes MCA's purge right now; six people, eh? Jon Weisberger Kenton County, KY [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://home.fuse.net/jonweisberger/
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
My best wishes go to all the employees and artists receiving pink slips It's been a really bad week, bad month and bad last year or so for folks who earn their living at a label. While not part of this shake-up I too was pink slipped this weekg. It is just unthinkable especially for those who've been there 10, 20 years that this kind of treatment can happen, and as it has with me - may radically change the direction many of these folks look to for their next opportunity. There aren't enough label jobs left for all those people to find, even if they wanted them. Hoping each last one of them finds the end of their rainbow, Stacey
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
In a message dated 1/22/99 10:41:55 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Dropped Decca artists Chris Knight Dolly Parton Danni Leigh My faith is dwindling. If Ms. Leigh or Ms. Parton need some consolation, "come to Slim". Slim
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
What's happened to these people is happening at every sort of media company you can name--and, of course, many, many firms of all stripes, with employees of ten or twenty years...This also occurs in a month when Fortune magazine, no less, has a cover story entitled "Finished at 40"--depicting the very widespre current practice in the same sorts of firms (i.e., tons of 'em)--of dropping oldsters of 40 and 45...let alone 55 and 60...with ANY amount of experience, in favor of the next 22 year old they intend to pay 22 dollars until they're TOO OLD (i,.e., more experienced and expensive) at 30. Here's the good news: when an organization this rancid drops you, you're usually better off. Many WILL find new places and better ones...after a while..and as Stacey just said, some won't...they'll have to move--and in these circumstances, thatt may not be the worst thing that ever happened either A lot of us just don't keep having the chance to do what we love for a living these days. It was always a kind of blessing to get do it it...and a lot less good people are looking blessed. ...Eventually, somebody starts to look at the politics of this. Maybe. Barry. Thinkin' about movin to a new job even though he has one lately. Same kind of "management" at work. Don't tell anybody, huh.
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
At 06:06 PM 1/22/99 EST, you wrote: In a message dated 1/22/99 10:41:55 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Dropped Decca artists Chris Knight Dolly Parton Danni Leigh My faith is dwindling. Faith? You had some in the first place. This is going be a bloodbath for ND/P2/Alt-Country bands along with a who slew of rock bands. The other majors may jump on the bandwagon and trim their rosters, hiding under the cover of "everybody else is doing it." Opportunities come a knocking for Ryko, Sugar Hill, Rounder and the other big indies. You won't be able to tell the players without a scorecard. Jeff If Ms. Leigh or Ms. Parton need some consolation, "come to Slim". Slim
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
In a thoughtful post, Barry ties the mergers and "downsizing" in with layoffs that have effected a number of P2ers, etc: A lot of us just don't keep having the chance to do what we love for a living these days. It was always a kind of blessing to get do it it...and a lot less good people are looking blessed. ...Eventually, somebody starts to look at the politics of this. Maybe. Amen. Maybe some consciousness will be raised when Republicans start talking about flat tax rates that would dramatically increase the wealth of the richest 5% while doing diddly for most people (a la Reagan years) and so forth. At this point I've concluded that the real reason they hate Clinton so much is that with him around inequalities in the distribution of wealth threaten to lessen just a teeny bit. Ah well. What a terrible thing that would be g. Sorry to get so far off twang-topic. Must be that Friday night vodka --junior
Re: Clip: Don't let the door hit your ass on the way out
Amen. Maybe some consciousness will be raised when Republicans start talking about flat tax rates that would dramatically increase the wealth of the richest 5% while doing diddly for most people (a la Reagan years) and so forth. My insider on the Hill (stepbrother in the house) says a VAT/national sales tax has a lot better chance of replacing the IRS than a flat tax... At this point I've concluded that the real reason they hate Clinton so much is that with him around inequalities in the distribution of wealth threaten to lessen just a teeny bit. I just hate liars and cheats and I don't give a damn about their politics. I say we draft Wall to run in 2000, with a theme song of "Another F*cking Brick in the ... My guess is you'd have a hard time finding any politician in DC without some skeletons in the closet, some literally, some almost. NOW ONLINE, www.TwangCast.com TM RealCountry netcast 24 X 7 Please Visit Then let us know what you think! Mike Hays www.MikeHays.RealCountry.net For the best country artist web hosting, www.RealCountry.net
