I reckon he's a brilliant music man so that's good news in my book.

Ienner Named Chairman of Sony BMG Unit


LOS ANGELES - The chief executive of Sony Music Label Group U.S. has been tapped to also serve as chairman, officials at parent company Sony BMG Music Entertainment said Friday.

The move reinforces Don Ienner's role as head of Sony Music's operations and recording labels, including Columbia Records Group, Epic Records, Sony Music Nashville and Sony Urban Music. The label group is home to Beyonce, Gretchen Wilson and Three 6 Mafia, among other recording artists.

Ienner oversaw the label group's reorganization last year. He joined the company in 1989 as president of Columbia Records Group, rose to president of Sony Music Label Group in 2003 and was named chief executive a year later.

His latest promotion comes a little over a month after a top management shake-up at Sony BMG led to Rolf Schmidt-Holtz taking over as chief executive. His predecessor, Andrew Lack, stepped into Schimdt-Holtz's former post as chairman of the board.

New York-based Sony BMG is a joint venture of Sony Music Entertainment and BMG, the music unit of Guetersloh, Germany-based Bertelsmann.