Universal Music Group (UMG) announced today a reorganization of its East Coast recorded music operations that re-establishes Def Jam Recordings, Island Records and Motown Records as stand-alone labels within the UMG family. The iconic labels will build on their unique strengths by enhancing their individual management, marketing, publicity and A&R teams and re-emerge as distinct creative enterprises.

In 1999, Def Jam, Island and Motown were consolidated into the Island Def Jam Music Group (IDJ). Effective immediately, IDJ will cease to exist, and the other label brands previously associated with IDJ will be realigned under the three flagship labels, Def Jam, Island and Motown.

In making the announcement, Lucian Grainge, Chairman & CEO of Universal Music Group had this to say about the new arrangement:

UMG is a collection of some of the greatest record labels the industry has ever seen. At the heart of these great companies is the vision and creative instincts of a team of passionate professionals. At UMG, our labels are empowered to be entrepreneurial and take creative risks. By re-establishing Def Jam, Island and Motown as stand-alone labels within the UMG family, we’re positioning them to recapture the uniqueness of their brands and serve artists with the singularity of vision, focus and creativity that was at the core of their original success.”

Under the new structure, the following changes will occur at each of the new labels including:

• Def Jam Recordings will be led by Steve Bartels, who has been promoted to CEO of the label. Previously Bartels served as President & COO of IDJ. In addition, he announced today that renowned music industry executives, Dion “No I.D.” Wilson and Kyambo “Hip Hop” Joshua, have been appointed Executive Vice Presidents and Co-Heads of A&R. Together, the team will focus on furthering Def Jam’s legacy as a label that has a profound impact on popular culture.
• Ethiopia Habtemariam, SVP of Motown Records, has been promoted to President of the label. Furthermore, Motown will return to Los Angeles, the label’s longest-serving home, where it was based for nearly 25 years beginning in 1972. Motown will be a freestanding label within Capitol Music Group, alongside such iconic labels as Blue Note, Harvest and Virgin Records, among others. Capitol was recently acquired in connection with UMG’s purchase of EMI. Since becoming a part of UMG, Capitol has been revitalized and expanded to become one of the industry’s most powerful creative centers. Habtemariam will also continue in her current role as EVP/Head of Urban Music at Universal Music Publishing Group.
• Island Records, under the leadership of David Massey, will expand its own marketing, publicity and A&R departments to grow the Island brand and produce the best in rock, alternative and pop music. Island will also have the ability to draw upon the promotional resources of UMG’s Republic Records, the No. 1 U.S. label in 2013 based on current album marketshare.
• Karen Kwak, EVP/Head of A&R for IDJ has been promoted to the newly-created position of Executive Vice President A&R, U.S. Recorded Music. In this new position, Kwak will serve all of UMG’s labels in the U.S.

With the transition of IDJ into three stand-alone labels, Chairman & CEO Barry Weiss has decided to step down from his current position in order to enter into discussions with UMG about a new venture together.

Mr. Grainge had this to say regarding Barry Weiss:

Barry is a terrific music executive who led our East Coast labels during a critical time of transition. I can’t say enough about his contributions to our labels or to thank him enough. He has positioned Def Jam, Island, Motown and Republic for new levels of growth.”

Check out the company press-release from Universal Music Group Chairman & CEO Lucian Grainge below:

Dear Colleagues:

Today we’re making some important changes to our U.S. East Coast operations which I want to share with you.

Def Jam, Island and Motown will now once again become stand-alone labels within UMG. I want to take this opportunity to tell you the reasons why we’re taking this historic step.

Over the past few years, we’ve made enormous strides in putting entrepreneurship at the center of our company. Today, UMG is a collection of some of the finest and boldest creative enterprises competing in the music marketplace; at times, even competing against each other.

But, in addition to competing, our companies also share many things including a worldwide network of marketing and promotional resources and a powerful global infrastructure. Perhaps most importantly, however, they share common values: a dedication to artistry, innovation and risk-taking that has made UMG the best music company in the world.

Part of the challenge of continuing to be the best is constantly re-evaluating our organization and ensuring that we maintain the proper balance between cooperation and competition among our labels. That balance can only be achieved by putting in place the structure that will best foster creativity, innovation and the entrepreneurial spirit. That’s why we’re unpacking IDJ into its original iconic stand-alone labels. The fact is: no matter how much we might work to build “IDJ” as a brand, that brand could never be as powerful as each of IDJ’s constituent parts.

Going forward, Def Jam, Island and Motown can now separately recapture and exploit the uniqueness of their respective brands, serving artists with the singularity of vision, focus and creativity that was at the core of their initial successes, while still being able to take advantage of UMG’s global reach.

Obviously, with the change in structure, each individual label will have its own management. With this shift, Barry Weiss has decided to step down from his current position so we can enter into discussions about a new venture with UMG.

Barry is an exceptional music executive, and I’m enormously grateful for all of his invaluable contributions during a time of transition for our East Coast companies. He has positioned Def Jam, Island, Motown and Republic to where they are today – poised for even greater levels of success – and we’d love to keep him in the family.

As part of the new structure, we’ll be bolstering our East Coast labels with some additional executive resources and new approaches to support their artists. More details are available in the press release below. I recognize that those of you who work in East Coast shared services and at IDJ will have questions and we will be holding meetings where all the questions you may have will be addressed. A separate email invitation will follow.

In the meantime, I want to thank you all for the role you play in making UMG the most creative and commercially successful music company in the world.

– Lucian

 

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As we all know, Chris Brown and Rihanna have rekindled their romance again in 2013 and have been spotted numerous places together, smooching as well as on the popular social site Instagram together.

Rihanna has posted tons of pictures of her and Chris Brown, which some have chosen to call as “shots” towards Brown’s ex-girlfriend Karrueche. However, according to social media, seems as if the two love birds have found themselves back into yet another quarrel. On May 10 2013, Brown himself has tweeted on Twitter, tweeting:

“She’s not mine if she’s everybody else’s.”

He also did an interview recently with radio station 94.9 FM and stated that he was currently going “solo” in the interview.

On the other hand, Rihanna also takes shot by posting pictures on Instagram with captions like “Got a thang for a king, but [you’re not] a king!” or another that stated “The reason why ya’ll hoe n***as can’t phase me.” On her last post, she also hash tagged Drake’s New Song Title “No New Friends”, rekindling the flame of Drake and Brown’s feud.

Will the two love birds work it out? Or break if off for good? Just look to social media and the two will reveal all themselves.

For more from #GFTV Contributer Sleekstyle Mimi check out her links below:

SleekStyleFashion.com

Facebook.com/SleekStyleFashion 

The post On Again, Off Again?! Chris Brown & Rihanna’s ‘Media War’ Continues appeared first on GoodFellaz TV.

– GoodFellaz TV Staff

It looks like Rihanna and Chris Brown have broken-up… AGAIN! This time, the ‘straw-that-broke-the-camels-back’ appears to have been French Reality-TV star Ayem Nour, who confessed to the French Magazine “Oops” that she slept with Chris Breezy in Paris recently, while his on-again/off-again girl-friend Karrueche was right there!

Confused? You’re not the only one. According to Ms. Ayem, Chris Brown and Karrueche have a very ‘open’ relationship, and that Karrueche didn’t mind at all. She told “Oops Magazine”

“It was beautiful and flattering. Some will criticize me, but I put any girl in challenge to say no to Chris Brown!”

However it appears that Rihanna was less-than-flattered, and she took to Instagram with this pic below:

Looks like RiRi has had enough… for now! lol. Then again, the next day she also put a “Throwback Thursday” pic of her and Chris Brown on Instagram, so who really knows??

Stayed tuned to GoodFellaz TV for all the latest Rihanna & Chris Brown rumors.

The post Rihanna & Chris Brown Break-Up Again?! Chris Brown Hooks-Up In Paris While Karrueche Watches? #GFTV “Word-On-The-Street” appeared first on GoodFellaz TV.

– Written by Tommy Gunz (@DJTommyGunzNJ)

Fellaz across the globe rejoice: Sofia Vergara is single again!! Yes that’s right, the smokin’ hot star of “Modern Family” recently broke up with her now ex-boyfriend entreprenuer Nick Loeb, and celebrated by taking a well-deserved vacation to Anguilla along with her home-girls for some fun-in-the-sun. The 39-year-old Colombian bombshell was out-and-about, flaunting her famous figure in a super-sexy bikini from her new K-Mart-backed clothing line.

There is currently no word as to why she split with her ex, but hey, who cares?? Check out pics from Sofia Vergara’s vacation in the carribean, along with a few of the GoodFellaz TV staff’s favorite pics below.

The post Smokin’ Hot Sofia Vergara Is Single Again ?!? appeared first on GoodFellaz TV.