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Former CBS Head Walter Yetnikoff on Why Record Labels Are Failing Emerging Artists
Walter Yetnikoff
One of the most storied – and controversial – executives in the history of the record industry, Walter Yetnikoff was head of CBS Records from 1975 to 1990. Over the course of his career at CBS, he oversaw an explosive growth in record sales (both by his label group and the industry at large), became embroiled in numerous feuds with artists and rival executives, and presided over the sale of the CBS label group to Sony in 1988. Along the way, he made the careers of a who’s who of modern rock and pop music – Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Billy Joel among them. Today, Yetnikoff runs a small boutique label and is an in-demand public speaker. His memoir, Howling at the Moon: Confessions of a Music Mogul in an Age of Excess, was published in 2004. |
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Description: Walter Yetnikoff, the legendary former head of CBS Records, shares his thoughts at a meeting of the American Bar Association on the tendency of record label management to abandon an artist if they don’t meet with immediate success, instead of working through periods of lower album sales (or revenue) to build a lasting market for that artist’s music. He illustrates his argument with an analysis of the career of Bruce Springsteen, who was on CBS during Yetnikoff’s tenure.
Shoot Date: October 2007 |
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