Ira Sallen/BMG

SALLEN FORTH: In the wake of the BMG Publishing-Primary Wave alliance, which will of course involve a prominent role for PW chief Larry Mestel, chatter is intensifying around other possible players in the new order. Among these is longtime BMG HR exec Ira Sallen, who served as an EVP and member of the Executive Committee for Sony BMG through 2008; he subsequently joined the entertainment and digital-media consultancy WTW Associates as a partner. Sallen is thought to be a likely candidate for a senior operating-exec post; if this turns out to be the case, he and Mestel will be responsible for teaching Hartwig Masuch about the Jewish high holidays. (9/6p)