Barry Weiss Exits RCA/Jive

BARRY’S FAREWELL TO JIVE: Tomorrow is RCA/Jive Label Group Chairman/CEO Barry Weiss’ last day at the company he first joined in 1982 as Manager of Artist Development, where he broke A Flock of Seagulls, then established the label as a home for emerging rap stars like A Tribe Called Quest, DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, Kool Moe Dee, Whodini and Too Short. He earned an MBA at NYU before being 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 for $2.7 billion, as Clive 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 Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, who will exit his current post at the end of March. Weiss will head the East Coast labels for UMG under CEO Lucian Grainge. (3/2p)