Label Departures

While catching up at Hypebot the other day I noticed a short update of A&R movement from the A&R registry. So I went there and in the past 8 weeks there have been a lot of people losing their jobs, and I don’t see many additions in that same place. Is A&R going the way of the dinosaur and the dodo and the 7 minute single?

A&R Registry letter.

Two of the most interesting departures (which is a nice way of saying firing) to me are Ben Goldman at Columbia and John Rubelli at Atlantic.

Ben had just crossed over to Columbia after 15 or so years at Epic Records when Steve Barnett and Charlie walk switched companies. You figure that would make him safe, as Barnett would want to surround himself with trusted allies, but with the Rick Rubin hiring and basic restructuring of Columbia that he is instituting, Ben might have been better off staying at Epic.

John Rubelli however is another story. One of my personal most anticipated albums of last year was Kill Hannah’s sophomore effort. This is what artist development was supposed to be about. The first Atlantic Kill Hannah album, Fornever and Ever, was great, but commercially did not do that well. Its biggest impact was making the synth sound viable again and opening up a door for The Killers, and Franz Ferdinand. I was surprised when Atlantic was giving them another shot, and I feel that mainly had to do with the passion that John Rubelli had for the band. The new album, Until There's Nothing Left of Us, was also a dud though. I feel that had to do with the music then the marketing. I can’t recall being more disappointed in an album. I played it several times to make sure I wasn’t just missing something, but the public spoke and Kill Hannah did not sell records. This wasn’t so much a sophomore slump, as the first album did not do well either, but after that the writing was on the wall for Mr. Rubelli.

A departure that has not even made the A&R registry yet is Michael Kaplan of Columbia. Kaplan of Or Music, Los Lonely Boys and Matisyahu Fame, often gets credit for popularizing the concept of upstreaming. He has some of the best ears and business instincts in the business. I can only imagine that he is a casualty of the Rubin hiring as well.

With so many exits in recent weeks the A&R registry must not be bigger than my pamphlet on Jewish sports legends.