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MATT DRUDGE // DRUDGE REPORT 2002�

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RCA, J RECORDS JOIN HANDS; BMG Taps Clive Davis To Be Chairman of the Two Labels
Tue Nov 19 2002 14:49:19 ET

Dear Colleagues:

Today I am happy to announce BMG's full acquisition of our joint venture with Clive Davis' J Records. But I am even more pleased to announce that Clive Davis is returning to BMG as the Chairman of a new RCA Music Group. The acquisition of J Records now allows us to realign key assets in the BMG family. So we are forming a newly configured RCA Music Group, which will include J Records and RCA Records. The two labels together make up what I think will be a super label run by an executive whose track record in the music industry is unmatched. Also, Charles Goldstuck, who helped establish J Records, will serve as the President and Chief Operating Officer of the RCA Music Group.

More details will follow, but for now the other parts of the former RCA Music Group, such as RLG-Nashville, BMG Canada, RCA Victor, Strategic Marketing, BMG Heritage, and BMG Special Products, will report, on an interim basis, to Michael Smellie. At RCA Records, Richard Sanders will continue as general manager.

Bob Jamieson will be stepping down as Chairman of the existing RCA Music Group. I want to thank Bob Jamieson personally for his invaluable contributions to RCA and BMG. As President of BMG Music Canada in the early 1990s, he invigorated that company and made it one of the strongest in the BMG family. When he came to RCA Records in 1995, Bob salvaged what was a faded record label. When he was President of RCA, it experienced several years of record-breaking sales and market share. Bob was instrumental in developing some of today's biggest rock and pop acts, including Christina Aguilera, Dave Matthews Band, and The Foo Fighters. It's our hope that Bob will remain close and we are in discussions about a future role for him at BMG.

It will be a challenge for Clive to establish our new RCA Music Group, but I know Clive is energized by this challenge, and so am I. You should know that from my first days at BMG, I wanted to re-establish our relationship with Clive Davis. I think of Clive as a partner and as a man who epitomizes the BMG entrepreneur. Clive focuses on the artist and he knows how to take action - the very elements that are at the core of BMG. By bringing J and RCA under Clive, I feel we can take both labels to a new level of creative and financial achievement.

BMG has made great strides this year and with your help, we've overcome great odds. But as Clive himself knows and practices, you never rest on your laurels. I look forward to working with Clive in a partnership on creating an even stronger BMG.

Warm regards
Rolf





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