Barry Weiss

Last updated
Barry Weiss
Barry Weiss - Partner & Co-founder of RECORDS, LLC.jpg
Born (1959-02-11) February 11, 1959 (age 64)
New York City, New York, U.S.
Alma mater Cornell University (BS)
New York University (MBA)
Occupations
  • Record executive
  • media proprietor
Years active1981–present
Labels

Barry Weiss (born February 11, 1959) is an American music executive. He co-founded the record label RECORDS in 2015, an imprint of Sony Music Entertainment which specializes in young recording artists. [1]

Contents

Weiss got his start at Clive Calder's Jive Records before working his way up to the head of the RCA/Jive Label Group. While at Jive, Weiss fostered artists like Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, NSYNC, Chris Brown, Backstreet Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, among others. He left the organization in 2011 to join Universal Music Group, prior to co-founding RECORDS in 2015. The label has since signed artists including Nelly, 24kGoldn, Noah Cyrus, B-Lovee, Lennon Stella, LSD, Matt Stell, and Dax. In 2023, the labels other co-founders (Matt Pincus and Ron Perry) were ousted in a stake buyout, leaving Weiss as the company's sole proprietor. Weiss has also co-founded the publishing firm SONGS. [2]

Early life and education

Weiss was born to a Jewish family in New York, New York on February 11, 1959, to parents Hy and Rosalyn Weiss. [3] [4] [5] His father, Hy, was also a music executive having founded Old Town Records in the late 1950s. [6] Barry Weiss graduated from Cornell University in 1981. While in school, he worked as a promoter to radio stations from his dorm room. [7] [8] Weiss received his Master of Business Administration from New York University in 1986. [9]

Career

1981–2008: Early years, Jive, and Zomba

Early on in his career, Weiss worked at Ariola America and Infinity Records. [10] He earned his first major job in 1982 at Clive Calder's new label, Jive Records. For his job interview, Weiss took Calder to various black, hip hop, and gay clubs where he knew bouncers and doormen throughout New York City. [7] [8] He initially started in the position of Manager of Artist Development. [10] At the time of his arrival, the label consisted mostly of pop acts like Billy Ocean, A Flock of Seagulls, and Samantha Fox. [11] [12] Weiss helped establish the label as a home for rappers and hip hop artists like DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince, A Tribe Called Quest, Whodini, Kool Moe Dee, Too Short, Boogie Down Productions, UGK, and others. [8] [13]

In January 1995, Weiss was promoted to President of Jive Records along with Verity and Silvertone. [4] [14] From 1995 to 2000, Weiss was involved with acts such as Britney Spears, NSYNC, The Backstreet Boys, and others. [15] [16] [17] He also oversaw the release of NSYNC's 2000 album, No Strings Attached which broke the album sales record (a record that stood until 2015). [17] In 2002, Jive Records' parent company, Zomba Music Group, was purchased by BMG for $2.7 billion. [18] Under BMG, Weiss was named the President and CEO of the newly formed Zomba Label Group. [6] [19] While in that position, he oversaw the careers of artists like Chris Brown, T-Pain, R. Kelly, and others. [20]

2008–2014: RCA/Jive to Universal

In 2008, Weiss was named Chairman and CEO of the BMG Label Group (later renamed RCA/Jive Label Group), replacing Clive Davis. As the head of the label group, Weiss oversaw Jive, Verity, GospoCentric, Volcano, RCA, Arista, Fo Yo Soul, LaFace, and J. He also inherited the management of acts such as Pink, Whitney Houston, Alicia Keys, Daughtry, the Foo Fighters, Kelly Clarkson, Leona Lewis, and numerous others. [7] [21] In 2010, Weiss announced that he would be leaving the RCA/Jive Label Group for a position at the Universal Music Group. [22] His official appointment to the position of Chairman and CEO of a group of labels colloquially referred to as Universal's "East Coast" labels (i.e. Republic Records, Island Def Jam, Motown Records, etc.) came in March 2011. [23] [24] [25]

Artists under Weiss's purview included Kanye West, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, 2 Chainz, Fall Out Boy, The Weeknd, Avicii, and numerous others. He left his position in 2014 after Universal decided to reorganize the music group into standalone labels. [24]

2015–present: Founder of RECORDS

In a partnership with SONGS Music Publishing, Weiss co-founded a new independent label, RECORDS, in early 2015. The SONGS roster included The Weeknd, Diplo, Lorde, and DJ Mustard (among others) at the time of RECORDS' founding. Early RECORDS' signees included Nelly and iLoveMemphis. [26] [27] Both artists had 2015 singles ("The Fix" and "Hit the Quan," respectively) that were certified platinum. [28] [29] Other RECORDS artists include Noah Cyrus, [30] LSD (composed of Labrinth, Sia and Diplo), [31] Lennon Stella, [32] Lauren Jauregui, [33] Dylan Brady, [34] St. Paul and The Broken Bones, and James Barker Band, [35] among others. [36]

SONGS Music Publishing was sold to the Kobalt Music Group in December 2017. [37] [38] The following month, RECORDS became a joint venture with the Sony Music Entertainment. [32] [39]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clive Davis</span> American music executive (born 1932)

Clive Jay Davis is an American record producer, A&R executive, record executive, and lawyer. He has won five Grammy Awards and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a non-performer, in 2000.

RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America.

Arista Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. The label was previously a division of BMG Entertainment, the North American division of German conglomerate Bertelsmann. Founded in November 1974 by Clive Davis and deactivated in 2011, Arista was re-stablished in 2018. Along with Epic Records, RCA Records, and Columbia Records, it is one of Sony Music's four flagship record labels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jive Records</span> American record label

Jive Records is a British-American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary of the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, and dance acts in the 1980s and 1990s, along with teen pop and boy bands during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bertelsmann Music Group</span> American record label

Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG) was a division of a German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music company was formed as RCA/Ariola International in 1985 as a joint venture to combine the music label activities of RCA's RCA Records division and Bertelsmann's Ariola Records and its associated labels which include Arista Records. It consisted of the BMG Music Publishing company, the world's third largest music publisher and the world's largest independent music publisher and the 50% share of the joint venture with Sony Music, which established the German American Sony BMG from 2004 to 2008.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sony Music</span> American multinational music company

Sony Music is an American multinational music company owned by Sony Entertainment and managed by the American umbrella division of Japanese multinational conglomerate Sony. It is the recording division half of the Sony Music Group, with the other half being the publishing division, Sony Music Publishing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J Records</span> American record label

J Records was an American record label owned and operated by Bertelsmann Music Group until it was transferred to Sony Music Entertainment when they acquired all of BMG's record labels in late 2008. It was distributed through the RCA Music Group. The label was founded in 2000 by Clive Davis and was dissolved into RCA Records in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zomba Group of Companies</span> Record label

The Zomba Group of Companies was a music group and division owned by and operated under Sony Music Entertainment. The division was renamed to Jive Label Group in 2009 and was placed under the RCA/Jive Label Group umbrella. In 2011, the RCA/Jive Label Group was split in half. Multiple Jive Label Group artists were moved to Epic Records while others stayed with Jive as it moved under the RCA Music Group. In October 2011 Jive Records was shut down and their artists were moved to RCA Records.

Clive Ian Calder is a South African-born British billionaire record executive and businessman primarily known for co-founding the Zomba Group with Ralph Simon, and its subsidiary Jive Records. As of October 2021, Calder has an estimated net worth of US$5.5 billion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">RCA/Jive Label Group</span> Short-lived American record label group

RCA/Jive Label Group was a short-lived American record label group, owned by Sony Music Entertainment and representing the merger of the RCA Music Group and JIVE Label Group. The umbrella group was formed in 2007 under the name BMG Label Group, was rebranded as RCA/Jive Label Group in 2009. In July 2011 it was finally dissolved into two separate labels: the RCA Music Group and Epic Records which took Jive subsidiaries until October 2011 when it retired Jive Records along with Arista Records and J Records. The artists on those three labels were moved to RCA Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Doug Morris</span> American record executive (born 1938)

Doug Morris is an American record executive. He is the current chairman of 12Tone Music Group. He previously served as chairman and CEO of the Universal Music Group from 1995 to 2011 and Sony Music Entertainment from 2011 to 2017.

Ralph Simon, FRSA, is a business executive, first in the music industry, and now in the mobile entertainment industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battery Records (dance)</span>

Battery Records was an American record label that served as the dance sublabel of Jive Records, and was active for a short time during the mid-1990s. The label was mostly known for releasing music by the Swedish Eurodance group Rednex in North America, namely its novelty hit "Cotton Eye Joe", as well as Insane Clown Posse's third studio album, Riddle Box. The Battery Records name was later revived by Sony Music Entertainment in 2008 with a focus on hip hop music.

RCA Music Group was an umbrella group of labels distributed by Sony Music Entertainment that existed between March 2004 and 2009, and for a short period of time between July 2011 and October 2011 as all RCA Music Group labels were merged with RCA Records.

RCA Inspiration is a gospel music group operating under Sony Music.

Peter Edge is an English-American record executive. He is the chairman and CEO of RCA Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kemosabe Records</span> American record label

Kemosabe Records is an American record label founded by American record producer and songwriter Dr. Luke and owned by Sony Music Entertainment. The label is based in Los Angeles, California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Corson</span> American record executive

Tom Corson is an American record executive. He is the co-chairman and chief operating officer of Warner Records, a position he has held since January 2018. He was previously the president and chief operating officer of RCA Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LaFace Records</span> Record label

LaFace Records was an American record label based in Atlanta, Georgia, that operated as a unit of Sony Music Entertainment from 2008 to 2011 and was historically a part of Bertelsmann Music Group from 1989 to 2004. It was most active and achieved its greatest commercial success during the 1990s, dealing largely in the field of urban music. It was originally distributed by its co-creator Arista Records from 1989 through 2001, after which it was shuttered and absorbed into Arista. In 2004, the label was rebooted, and it began operating through Jive Records until both were absorbed into RCA Records in 2011. Today, the label's back catalog and reissues are managed by Legacy Recordings.

References

  1. ↑ "About RECORDS". Recordsco.com.
  2. ↑ https://www.billboard.com/pro/barry-weiss-records-sony-joint-venture-buyout-matt-pincus-ron-perry/
  3. ↑ "Hy Weiss, 84; Romanian native co-founded '50s R&B label Old Town". Los Angeles Times. April 2, 2007. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  4. 1 2 "Good Works". Billboard. February 24, 1996. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  5. ↑ Patrick Goldstein (Jun 19, 1988). "A Rappin' Big Year for Little Jive Records". Los Angeles Times .
  6. 1 2 Sisario, Ben (March 31, 2007). "Hy Weiss, 84, Music Executive From Rock 'n' Roll's Early Days, Dies". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 Newman, Melinda (April 25, 2008). "BMG's Weiss brings business savvy". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  8. 1 2 3 Knopper, Steve (January 6, 2009). Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age. Simon and Schuster. ISBN   9781416594550.
  9. ↑ "THE ULTIMATE WEISS GUY: BARRY THROUGH THE YEARS". Hits Daily Double. December 7, 2010. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  10. 1 2 "Executive Turntable". Billboard. May 29, 1982. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  11. ↑ Bell, Carrie (November 21, 1998). "Jive Imprint Slides Into Electronica". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  12. ↑ Leeds, Jeff (July 23, 2007). "Oops! ...They Did It Again". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  13. ↑ Charnas, Dan (February 1, 2013). "The 25 Best A&Rs in Hip-Hop History". Complex. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  14. ↑ Lichtman, Irv (January 14, 1995). "The Billboard Bulletin". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  15. ↑ LeBlanc, Larry (July 17, 1999). "Bartlett Kick-Starts Zomba Canada". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  16. ↑ Christman, Ed (August 12, 2000). "BMG's Jones: 'Keep The Ball In Play'". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  17. 1 2 Halperin, Shirley (January 8, 2016). "RECORDS Founder Barry Weiss on Being a 'Major-Label Refugee,' Adele Surpassing 'N Sync and the 'Emotional' Closing of Jive". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  18. ↑ Oppelaar, Justin; Meza, Ed (November 26, 2002). "BMG finally jumping Jive". Variety. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Details Prove Devilish For Sony, BMG Merger". Billboard. November 22, 2003. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  20. ↑ Lee, Chris (April 18, 2008). "Iconic CEO has new role at BMG". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  21. ↑ Laurent, Lionel (April 18, 2008). "Clive Davis Out Of The Spotlight". Forbes. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  22. ↑ Sisario, Ben (December 7, 2010). "A Sony Executive Joins Universal Music". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  23. ↑ Halperin, Shirley (March 17, 2011). "Barry Weiss replaces L.A. Reid at record label". Reuters. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  24. 1 2 Halperin, Shirley (April 1, 2014). "Island Def Jam Motown Reorganizes, Barry Weiss Steps Down". Billboard. Archived from the original on July 3, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  25. ↑ Christman, Ed (January 7, 2012). "The Billboard Power 100". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  26. ↑ Christman, Ed (February 17, 2015). "Barry Weiss To Join Forces With SONGS Publishing On New Label". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  27. ↑ Mitchell, Gail (October 14, 2015). "'Hit the Quan' Rapper iLoveMemphis Signs With RECORDS Label". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  28. ↑ "Gold & Platinum: Nelly". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  29. ↑ "Gold & Platinum: iLoveMemphis". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  30. ↑ Reilly, Phoebe (May 18, 2017). "Noah Cyrus Talks Debut Album 'NC-17' and the Skill She'd Borrow From Miley". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  31. ↑ Shackleford, Tom (May 3, 2018). "Watch: Sia, Diplo and Labrinth team up for new LSD collaboration, share trippy animated video for 'Genius'". AXS. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  32. 1 2 Hollabaugh, Lorie (January 17, 2018). "Lennon Stella Signs With RECORDS/Columbia Records". MusicRow. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  33. ↑ Karp, Hannah (April 12, 2019). "Why RECORDS CEO Barry Weiss Is Betting on Country - and Unproven Talent - in His Latest Act". Billboard. Retrieved April 17, 2019.
  34. ↑ "Why RECORDS CEO Barry Weiss Is Betting on Country - and Unproven Talent - in His Latest Act". Billboard. Retrieved 2019-08-23.
  35. ↑ Farthing, Lydia (January 23, 2023). "James Barker Band Joins RECORDS Nashville's Growing Roster". Music Row Magazine. Retrieved January 23, 2023.
  36. ↑ McCall, Malorie (November 10, 2015). "St. Paul & The Broken Bones Signs With RECORDS". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  37. ↑ Ingham, Tim (December 7, 2017). "SONGS has agreed to sell for around $160m, say sources". Music Business Worldwide. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  38. ↑ Karp, Hannah (December 8, 2017). "SONGS Music Publishing Sells Catalog To Kobalt: Exclusive". Billboard. Retrieved June 29, 2018.
  39. ↑ "Jenna Andrews Joins Barry Weiss' Records Label as Exclusive A&R Consultant". Billboard. February 26, 2018. Retrieved June 29, 2018.

m

Preceded by
L.A. Reid (Island Def Jam)
Mel Lewinter (Universal Motown Republic)
 Chief Executive Officer of Island Def Jam/Universal Republic
March 2011-April 2014		Succeeded by
Position terminated
Preceded by
Clive Davis (RCA Music Group)
 Chief Executive Officer of RCA/Jive Label Group
April 2008-March 2011		Succeeded by
Peter Edge (RCA Music Group)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.