Music Wire: EMI Shake up could signal comeback of Roger Ames

Q1 2007 seems to be filled with shake ups at media and entertainment companies. The latest shake up comes unexpectedly out of EMI the major record label which has been through three failed merger attempts with rival Warner Music. The company's music chief Alain Levy and his deputy David Munns has been shown the door by company Chairman Eric Nicoli, under pressure from his board to put fire back into the company. Firing its two heads of music opens up a huge door for someone else to come in and attempt to turn things around and already all eyes are on former Warner Music Group head Roger Ames who is currently a consultant for the company and has been out of site since being pushed out of Warner after it was acquired by private investors. If Ames is indeed the man, this could be one of the music industry's biggest comeback since Clive Davis who got canned as head of Arista only to come back to run the whole show. Then again Ames isn't the only respected music exec with time on his hands these days. Former Sony Label Group CEO Donnie Ienner could also be considered for the EMI gig. The sudden move, expected to be announced today, follows a series of setbacks at EMI, including a string of failed merger negotiations with a rival, the Warner Music Group, and the poor sales performance of the pop star Janet Jackson. The ouster of Mr. Levy comes about five years after he was recruited to bolster the performance of the company, which ranks last in sales in the United States among the four major music conglomerates. EMI’s share of total sales in the American market dipped last year to 10.2 percent, from about 10.4 percent, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Revamping of EMI Begins With Management Shake-Up [NYT] -Shomari Hines