The Billboard Q&A: Lyor Cohen
Posted on Jan 18th, 2009Warner Music Group Chairman/CEO of Recorded Music for the Americas and the U.K.Warner’s label chief speaks out on 360 deals, $1.29 singles and why YouTube deals don’t pay.
No one can say that Lyor Cohen isn’t opinionated. At Def Jam in the ’90s, he earned a reputation as an entrepreneur who would fight to protect the interests of his artists. And he didn’t mellow out much at Island Def Jam or at Warner Music Group, where CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr. brought him in 2004.
Hired to make Warner’s various labels more efficient, Cohen has recently posted some impressive gains. In 2008, WMG gained 2.2 percentage points of market share, according to Nielsen SoundScan, and Atlantic became the No. 1 label in the United States.
Tony Dungy steps down as Colts coach
Posted on Jan 12th, 2009
Tony Dungy always considered football just a career path.
Not his life’s mission.
On Monday, Dungy began the transition from head coach to full-time dad and devoted volunteer by announcing his retirement after seven years leading the Indianapolis Colts.
But the culmination of a 31-year NFL career, which started with Dungy winning a Super Bowl ring as a player in Pittsburgh and ended two years after he became the first black coach to hoist the Lombardi Trophy, brought out some rare emotional moments from the usually stoic Dungy.
“My wife Lauren told me to bring some Kleenex. I thought I would make it a little farther than the first sentence,” Dungy said, his voice cracking.
He told owner Jim Irsay of his decision Sunday.
“And we spent about 21/2 hours crying,” Dungy said. “But I had a real peace about it.”
The 53-year-old Dungy informed his staff of the decision Monday morning, then met with some players after the traditional one-week waiting period ended. Dungy and his wife, Lauren, spent the last five years discussing whether he should continue coaching.
Merry Chrismoose!
Posted on Dec 24th, 2008
Droopy red hats are sure to be the new fashion statement for the animal kingdom!
Merry wishes for the holiday season!
Cruel irony
Posted on Dec 18th, 2008Autoblog had a nice write-up of the new Nissan 370Z yesterday. When I lived in Vegas I owned a first-year 350Z that was absolutely a blast to drive on long and open desert roads.
Well after looking at some of the photos it became obvious that they did some of the testing just a few minutes from where I used to live in Red Rock Canyon. Oh the cruelty! Their picture on top, my picture on the bottom:
Notice the mountain top in the background of both pictures — yup, that’s Red Rock!
