MAVERICK'S PRESIDENT
HANGS UP HIS SPURS

No replacement will be named. Maverick General Manager Fred Croshal is expected to assume most of Bennett’s duties, with label principals Guy Oseary and Ronnie Dashev picking up the rest.

Bennett’s departure comes as Maverick undergoes a restructuring that will result in the elimination of five other positions, including sales head Tegra Little and publicity head Kymm Britton. Sales duties for the label will now be handled by Warner Bros., while publicity, which had previously been 75% outsourced, will now be outsourced in its entirety on a project-by-project basis.

The restructuring is not a result of pressure from AOL Time Warner brass, who have mandated cuts throughout the Warner Music Group. Rather, it is the result of a streamlining effort within Maverick itself, according to the label source. Maverick and WB are about two years into a five-year extension of their joint venture, which the companies inked around the time Bennett signed on in July 1999.

Bennett, whose music-business career spans over 25 years, joined Maverick following the exit of label co-founder/ex-Madonna manager Freddy DeMann. Bennett was previously President of Geffen, where he spent eight years before leaving as a result of the Seagram/PolyGram merger in January 1999.

Nine-year-old Maverick, of course, has had its greatest success with Alanis Morissette, but has also had hits with artists including Candlebox, Prodigy and Deftones. Currently, the label has been heating up with Days of the New spinoff Tantric, which has already sold 300,000 albums, and Michelle Branch, who is receiving airplay for “Everywhere,” the first single from her forthcoming debut album.