One week after taking over as chairman and chief executive of BMG Label Group, Barry Weiss appears to be toiling away behind the scenes, unconcerned about the long shadow cast by his predecessor, Clive Davis.
Living with Davis' outsize legacy is perhaps an unavoidable conundrum for Weiss, 49, who is respected and well liked by his peers but doesn't have the same larger-than-life profile as the industry icon.
With Davis transitioning to the newly created role of chief creative officer worldwide for Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Weiss will have the opportunity to demonstrate his own skills at the suite of labels he now oversees: Jive, Volcano, Verity, GospoCentric and Fo Yo Soul, in the Zomba Label Group family; and BMG Label Group imprints RCA, LaFace, Arista and J.
As it stands, Weiss, who has declined to be interviewed since stepping into the job, has a reputation as a savvy businessman who shies away from the spotlight but has a keen ability to develop young R&B and pop performers such as Chris Brown and T-Pain, not to mention Britney Spears and Justin Timberlake.
In his new role, he inherits platinum-selling stars such as Alicia Keys, Daughtry, Whitney Houston and the Foo Fighters.
Whereas Davis was a celebrity unto himself, a star maker with a passion for pop divas and a reputation for controlling the public personas of his proteges, Weiss is respected for his ability to control the all-important bottom line. It's a skill that will be crucial as BMG, like every music label, is under tremendous pressure to cut costs.
"Barry is a much more efficient executive than anyone else because he learned from [Zomba founder Clive Calder], who ran that company as if every dollar that came in and went out was his own," said Larry Rudolph, Spears' former manager and current advisor.
Billionaire Calder was undeniably one of the greatest influences on Weiss, but so too was his father, Hy, who founded New York-based doo-wop label Old Town Records in the '50s and ran a series of imprints, including Barry Records, named after his young son.
"Hy Weiss was a relentless optimist and can-do kind of guy," said Neil Portnow, who worked alongside Barry Weiss for 14 years at Zomba before becoming head of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences. "Barry will find a way around a brick wall as opposed to being blocked by it. He got that from his dad."
The apprentice
