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"In our expanding and highly competitive business, Alain is among the most talented and resourceful executives."
——Doug Morris

EMI’S NEW WISE GUYS

Industry Insiders Weigh In on Nicoli’s
New World Order
They’re cooking again at the bakery.

That’s the collective opinion of numerous industry players about EMI Group Chairman Eric Nicoli’s decision to replace EMI Recorded Music Worldwide Chairman/CEO Ken Berry with former PolyGram President/CEO Alain Levy.

Levy’s title will also be Worldwide Chairman/CEO, and he will be joined by Vice Chairman David Munns, onetime Senior VP of worldwide Pop Marketing at PolyGram, an EMI veteran and manager for Bon Jovi.

The team was put together by Nicoli, who is certain his new biscuit boys will be able to find the gravy. "In these challenging market conditions, Alain brings a unique blend of creative, commercial, strategic and leadership skills to take the business forward to the next level."

Here’s what a few other industryites had to say about the new, improved British major.

Doug Morris: "In our expanding and highly competitive business, Alain is among the most talented and resourceful executives. He’s regarded with respect not only by his executives and artists, but by those with whom he works throughout the creative community."
Roger Ames: "Alain and David will be a great team. I learned a lot from Alain, and drank a lot of beer with David."
Andy Slater: "I look forward to working with a seasoned leader such as Alain. He has vast knowledge of the global music marketplace, and his experience managing an international company will be hugely beneficial as we continue to reinvent and reinvigorate Capitol Records. The complimentary brie and Burgundy is also certain to boost morale."
Roy Lott:
"These are challenging economic times. Alain and David bring enormous experience and expertise to their positions. I am confident that EMI will have positive growth. Meanwhile, I’m sure that this change will not be a bad thing for Ken. Change can be good—just ask Clive.
Danny Goldberg: "Alain is facing a tough economy in the record business and a company that obviously wants growth, but I think he’s going to be very successful, because he’s one of the very few people who really understands all of the different components of the worldwide record business. He’s very sensitive to the numbers and will make sure that they spend prudently, and he understands the creative process, where hit records come from and how to get them. He’s lived in the United States and understands the American market in a way that very few Europeans ever have. At the same time, he’s intimate with the business in Asia, Latin America and Europe as well. He’s one of the great executives in the business. Alain has a tremendous work ethic, a great intellect for economics and finance, a heart and an intuition that understands creativity."
Dawn Bridges: "People at EMI are thrice-blessed. First, they’ve been able to work with Ken for all these years. And now they have the opportunity to work with Alain and David."
Don Passman: "Alain is a really bright guy who did a great job in building PolyGram into a worldwide operation. I think he and David will do a terrific job at EMI."
Fred Davis: "Eric Nicoli has made a great move in bringing in two such experienced executives as Alain and David. Their past success at PolyGram was a result of their trusting true music executives to run the labels. I am sure, and I hope that that vision will be enacted at EMI."
Miles Copeland: "I had the pleasure of working with Alain Levy and David Munns when they turned the PolyGram company into a dynamic player on the world stage. I can’t think of a better team to take on EMI! Their major challenge will be the USA, a market where EMI has traditionally had problems. The success of PolyGram here shows that Alain is eminently capable of solving this problem and I have no doubt he will do it."

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