I.B. Tease

FABLES OF THE RECONSTRUCTION: UMG/EMI integration has gotten underway, with meetings taking place in L.A., London and New York, HITS industry insider I.B. Bad reports in his latest column, posting Friday morning. What is the plan being formulated by Lucian Grainge to rebuild the label—beyond providing Capitol/Virgin in the U.S. with continuity and stability by signing President Dan McCarroll and EVP/GM Greg Thompson to new deals? While it now appears that there will be sizable job losses in duplicated services, the core A&R and marketing teams will be significantly expanded. A&R in particular has been the number one priority for Grainge since he took the reins at Universal, and never has a record company needed an A&R overhaul more than Capitol/Virgin, whose creative staffs were decimated by cutbacks during the Guy Hands era. Not only that, but EMI’s new brain trust clearly needs to feed the machine, with much of the current repertoire earmarked to go elsewhere as part of the Parlophone divestment. (10/18p)