WHEELS & DEALS:
WHO’S WHO IN A&R AT IGA

WHERE’S THE NEW GRAMMY GEN? This year’s Grammy nominations once again reinforced the lack of new acts breaking through and earning nods, as all the Record of the Year and Album of the Year nominations went to established artists. While Grammy voters did step out of their comfort zone by giving a nom to indie act the Arcade Fire in the Alternative category, lots of industry folks are asking why the band wasn’t nominated for Best New Artist as well. The lack of Grammy-nominated new acts is another telling sign of the state of A&R. Our friends at the A&R Registry recently reported that 90 A&R executives were laid off last year, with only six of those 90 landing new gigs. There’s only a handful of hit-making, studio-savvy A&R types left. Hopefully, they won’t be saying “paper or plastic?” soon… NEWS TO USE: More chatter going on in the Geffen label world, as rumors spread last week about A&M Prexy Ron Fair being upped to Chairman; speculation is swirling about what will happen next with the staff and a roster comprising acts from both the A&M and Geffen labels. Word on the street is that Polly Anthony will stay in a Presidential position, but current co-Prexy Jordan Schur will leave his post and start a new rock label. Insiders share that Schur has negotiated to take on some of Geffen’s established rock acts, including Weezer, to his new venture, as well as some of his recent signings. Meanwhile, expect some heavy roster trimming to go down, as the label is rumored to be shifting away from rock. A&R folks point out that Fair has traditionally been a pop-leaning label exec. Is an A&R restructuring within the IGA family in the works? The urban division obviously maintains its dominance at the label group, while Interscope A&R rockers Mark Williams, Luke Wood, Jeff Sosnow, Ben Gordon and Wendy Higgs are holding court. So will current Geffen A&R execs Thom Panunzio (a longtime Iovine studio collaborator), Joel Mark and Eric Hunter transition over or stay put? Stay tuned… The Steve Sessa-repped Hat Trick Heroes are being flown into Tinseltown this week by several labels for private perfs and meet-and-greets. Expect more label calls to managers David Christensen/Dave Walker for the Florida-based teen rockers… We hear Q-Prime has picked up The Black Keys for management and the band is out of their Fat Possum deal… Weasel ears are getting perked for the Alan Wolmark/Joe Berman-managed Vassy. The Australian songstress is signed to the Bunny in Aussie land, but is a free agent elsewhere. And her tunes are featured in several commercials as well as a worldwide Hilton Hotel ad campaign… Keep your eye on the Jim Welch-managed Shiny Toy Guns. We hear this one is getting nutty… Meanwhile, the Doug Mark-repped Nik & Sam have been doing the label meet-and-greets between L.A. and Nashville. The teen twins had tracks produced by up-and-coming writer/producer Chris Lee, who has several more acts that he’s been developing. Stay tuned… Here are a couple of buzz shows to check out: BMI is showcasing Clarissa Rivera, the Modern Society, Tim Brantley and the Zac Brown band in the A-T-L. Meanwhile, ASCAP is presenting Sabrosa Purr, La Rocca and Cold War Kids at Spaceland. See buzz/gigs for details… Canadian Music Week is going down in Toronto March 2-5. And SXSW is only a month away… BUZZIN’: Spacebar, Freddy, Brazil and Forward Russia!… Hit me up: [email protected]

BUZZ/GIGS
BMI ATLANTA SHOWCASE Thurs., Feb. 16, TBD, Smith’s Olde Bar
ASCAP PRESENTS Thurs., Feb. 16, TBD, Spaceland
ILL SCARLETT Sat., March 4, TBD, Canadian Music Week, Toronto