Polygram Music Group

In a move that could foreshadow an overhaul of New York-based PolyGram Music Group, Island Records dismissed more than a dozen employees this week. The label, which releases music by such acts as U2 and the Cranberries, is not the only PolyGram company suffering from a dry spell lately. Motown sales are flat, and sales are sluggish at Def Jam and A&M--although its Mercury Records is on a roll. The Island firings follow a round of staff cuts at competitors Warner Bros., EMI, Geffen and MCA.

In a move that could foreshadow an overhaul of New York-based PolyGram Music Group, Island Records dismissed more than a dozen employees this week. The label, which releases music by such acts as U2 and the Cranberries, is not the only PolyGram company suffering from a dry spell lately. Motown sales are flat, and sales are sluggish at Def Jam and A&M--although its Mercury Records is on a roll. The Island firings follow a round of staff cuts at competitors Warner Bros., EMI, Geffen and MCA.

PolyGram Names New Music Chief: The Netherlands-based music company said in London that it will appoint the head of its British operations to run PolyGram Music Group, which forms 86% of the company's business. The appointment of Roger Ames, 46, now chairman of PolyGram U.K., had been expected as an attempt to bolster the company after it reported a 6% profit drop in the second half of 1995.

Checkpoint Systems Settles Suit Against PolyGram: The antitrust case against PolyGram Group Distribution Inc. was settled after the distributor of compact discs agreed to suspend its practice of using only one brand of anti-theft tags. Thorofare, N.J.-based Checkpoint Systems Inc. sued Dutch-owned PolyGram in July, claiming PolyGram's decision to use tags made by one of Checkpoint's rivals put it at a competitive disadvantage.

Linda Newmark is the new vice president of business affairs at Polygram Music Publishing Group. She will negotiate music publishing agreements, oversee acquisitions and promote overall business development. Newmark previously headed Polygram publishing's international acquisitions. Before that, she was with the law firm Cooper, Epstein and Hurewitz.

Rob Dickins, chairman of Time Warner's British music division, is expected to exit his post by the time his contract expires in December, sources said. Time Warner has decided not to renew Dickins' deal but has yet to find an executive to replace him, sources said. Time Warner is wooing PolyGram Music Group President Roger Ames to fill a high-level post at Warner's international music division, sources said.

Jim Caparro, chairman of Universal Music Group's Island Def Jam division, has resigned with about two years remaining on his contract, sources said. Caparro, who became head of the booming division as part of the massive reorganization that followed the former Seagram Co.'s acquisition of PolyGram Music Group, does not have another job lined up, sources said. He has held meetings with executives from Warner Music Group and EMI Group, among others, according to sources.

Civil rights leader Jesse Jackson met Tuesday in New York with the top brass of PolyGram Music Group to discuss the corporation's position about a racial remark made by a senior executive. Eric Kronfeld, president and chief operating officer of PolyGram's domestic music division, had suggested in an Oct. 17 court deposition that if record companies were prevented from hiring people with criminal records, no blacks would be working in the music industry. PolyGram demoted Kronfeld five days later.

Hilary Rosen has been promoted to chief executive of the Recording Industry Assn. of America, the Washington-based trade group that represents the nation's largest record conglomerates. Rosen, the first woman to assume such a powerful position at the trade group, is highly regarded among competing record chiefs for her front-line role in the organization's recent anti-drug and anti-censorship efforts.

Time Warner's Warner Music Group is about to hire former PolyGram Music Group President Roger Ames to fill a high-level post at Warner's international music division, sources said. The deal to bring Ames and his London Records label into the Warner fold is expected to be completed within weeks. As a Warner International executive, Ames would report to Ramon Lopez, longtime chairman of the media giant's international music arm.

Music industry veteran Roger Ames, who ran Time Warner Inc.'s worldwide record division for four years before the media giant sold it to private investors, took a step toward the exit Wednesday. Ames said he would be an "at-will non-exclusive consultant" to the record company. It remains possible that Ames could reverse course and take a top post in the executive structure being created by former Seagram Co. Chief Executive Edgar Bronfman Jr.