THE ULTIMATE WEISS GUY: BARRY THROUGH THE YEARS

Today's announcement that Barry Weiss would be leaving his post of Chairman/CEO of RCA/Jive Label Group to take a still unspecified job at Lucian Grainge's UMG wasn't unexpected.

In fact, our own IB Bad has been telling you for the last month or so that Weiss will be put in charge of East Coast operations for UMG.

The move is the latest for the Woodbury, Long Island, native, a second generation record man as son of the late Hy Weiss, founder of Old Town Records, an independent doo-wop label launched in the late '50s, releasing music by such legendary N.Y. street corner crooners as the Harptones, The Earls, The Cleftones and The Fiestas. Hy named yet another label Barry Records after his son, who would hang around his dad's midtown office, where he first ran into the likes of Simon & Garfunkel, Isaac Hayes and Tiny Tim.

While attending Cornell University, Barry took his first job in the record business, doing AOR and College Radio promotion for Infinity Records, working the WATS line in his dorm room, talking to radio PDs all over the country. He also worked for Ariola America, a subsidiary of Arista, whose roster included artists like Dutch rocker Herman Brood and Swiss heavy metal band Krokus.

Weiss admits owing a great deal of his career to a pair of legendary Clives—Zomba founder Clive Calder, who first hired him 28 years ago fresh out of Cornell, and Clive Davis, whom he eventually succeeded as head of RCA and Jive Music Groups—as well as Sony Music Entertainment CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, who appointed him to his last post. He cites all three as strong influences in his approach and philosophy to music.

Weiss joined the newly launched Jive Records in 1982, as Manager of Artist Development, shepherding the first release by A Flock of Seagulls, and later was an integral part of establishing Jive as a home for the burgeoning rap stars such as A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Kool Moe Dee, Whodini and Too Short.

Weiss earned an MBA at NYU, just before he was named President of Jive/Silvertone/Verity Records in 1995. Five years later, he presided over the release of NSYNC’s No Strings Attached, which sold a still-record 2.4 million copies in its first week. Thanks in large part to his shepherding the success of NSYNC, Britney Spears and Backstreet Boys, when BMG acquired the Zomba Music Group in 2002, as Calder’s right-hand man, Weiss was appointed President/CEO to the renamed Zomba Label Group, which included LaFace Records and So So Def.

In 2008, Weiss was named Chairman/CEO for the newly named RCA/Jive Label Group (formerly the BMG Label Group) by Schmidt-Holtz, stating: “Our philosophy has always been to commit to an artistic vision, then create a support system for it.”

For the past 18 years, Weiss has steadily balanced giving his artists creative freedom while maintaining a firm grip on the bottom line.

“I'm committed to breaking new artists and safeguarding the success of the worldwide superstars we're involved with here,” said Weiss at the time of his appointment. “I think it's essential to create an open-minded, 'no rules' approach to music and artists, and not being complacent, but inculcating an entrepreneurial approach within the RCA/JIVE Label Group and spreading it throughout other companies within Sony Corporation."

Weiss concluded with a nod to his own heritage: “One of the most important lessons I picked up from my dad is, this business is about selling an artist to the consumer and the key element is always the songs. He used to say, ‘A hit record is like a tennis ball in water.’ It always rises to the top.”

Just like his son.