I have to say that Barry Weiss at the top of Sony/BMG USA ia a brilliant move and he will do incredibly well, compared to Nick Gatfield's appointment which looks much chancier.

However there is another question - has the Leona Lewis success in the States, acclaimed by the UK media, perhaps cost more than it seems?
The old model of the music industry was always hype above reality - a high chart position made the executives look great in the eyes of the board and shareholders.

But often the reality (shipped gold; came back platinum) was not profits at all but huge expenditure in order to buy that image.

I started this with chart hype in the 70's but stopped very quickly when the big labels did it after me and spent millions, losing fortunes.

It took the boards decades to discover this and has only just truly dawned on the bosses.

The buzz I'm getting from the States is that Clive's old styled methods may have meant that Leona's US success is all froth and no substance.

These days you simply cannot afford this.

Thanks for confirming what I was already thinking - your penultimate paragraph says it all. I think a small fortune must have been put into the hype surrounding LL. On Ceefax Leona was being compared to Whitney Houston!! Oh please ...