Financier Richard Branson was mentioned prominently in recent speculation that he might reacquire Virgin Records, and Microsoft mogul Paul Allen is known to be interested in getting into the music business.
Now another regular on the Forbes lists is set to make a move in the record world. Rather than buy an existing company, though, Peter Getty is getting ready to launch a new label of his own. The grandson of the late oil tycoon J. Paul Getty has formed a partnership with former Capitol Records and Interscope Records soundtracks executive Karyn Rachtman.
And they definitely have ideas of doing things differently, hoping to appeal to artists who have either been squeezed out by the big companies' mergers or don't feel comfortable in that environment.
"We will be a joint venture with our artists, partners in every way," explains Rachtman, 36, whose soundtrack hits include "Pulp Fiction," "Romeo + Juliet" and "Bulworth." "We're not going to have a huge staff, so with each artist we'll pick an independent marketing person together, pick an independent publicist together, put a whole team in place."
Even distribution deals will be made separately for each release rather than through a full-time relationship with any one distributor.
"This way no one will be working on any project they don't believe in, which is sadly common with the big labels," Rachtman says.
Getty, 35, is not merely bankrolling the endeavor (which they haven't named yet) but is a fully active partner. This isn't his first foray into the music business. He owns Emperor Norton Records, a small label with an assortment of left-field releases, including the band the Virgin-Whore Complex, which features Getty himself in the guise of songwriter-musician Spats Ransom.
Clearly he's not looking for the next Britney Spears.
"It's close to what I'm already doing at Emperor Norton, just on a larger scale," Getty says. "We involve the artist in the decisions. And we're going to lean away from enticing people with flashy, expensive things and mucho bucks up front and try to get them to participate in something that might be bigger down the road.
"If you can sell 200,000 records fairly reliably and break a larger band once in a while, I don't see how you can't make money unless you waste it on extravagances."
What they will spend money on, they say, is unique packaging and, of course, a heavy online presence, with each CD to feature link capabilities to Internet sites.
