THE calm that has pervaded the corridors of SonyBMG since the irascible executive duo of Donnie Ienner and Michele Anthony were let go in June is about to expire.
About three weeks ago, Rob Stringer officially took the helm of the Sony U.S. label group- essentially replacing Ienner, the longtime executive who reigned with a heavy hand and an outsized personality.
Stringer, who had headed the company’s U.K. division, is said to be scrupulously going over the company’s personnel rolls looking for cuts.
Despite nearly 2,000 layoffs worldwide following the 2004 merger between Sony Music and Bertelsmann’s BMG, “The cost structure is still bloated,” said one source.
Stringer, incidentally, is the younger brother of Sir Howard Stringer, the chief executive officer of Sony. But Rob Stringer joined Sony years before his brother did.
Another source said Stringer’s tinkering is about “undoing Don nie’s legacy and the structure he put in place.” One area that is sure to be altered is Sony’s urban music division, which right now sits outside the division’s two main labels- Epic Records and Columbia Records- and which boasts such hit artists as Beyonce, Shakira, AC/DC and Jessica Simpson.
Sources say the likely cuts won’t be anywhere near the magnitude of the original postmerger downsizing, and could amount to no more than 100 employees.
Bros. in pants
Michael Hilfiger, the adopted brother of the fashion mogul Tommy Hilfiger, is hoping to build a fashion empire of his own.
Michael, a singer who branched off into fashion a couple years ago through a high-end denim line called Michael H., is launching a wider fashion line called DeHoghton and has lined up several silent partners.
He described the sensibility as “rock-punk couture,” and his denim is already worn by the likes of Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler, Mick Jagger and Lenny Kravitz.
Michael’s name made headlines earlier this year when his famous brother engaged in fisticuffs with Axl Rose at a Manhattan nightclub. It turned out, according to published reports, that Rose had been dating Michael’s ex-wife, and that the relationship instigated the fight.
Michael said Tommy is not directly involved in his fashion line, but said, “He’s always there.”
Batter up
Advertising Week, the sprawling industry confab that just wrapped up in New York, got under way this year with the first ever . . . waffle off?
The kickoff breakfast pitted celebrity-CEO-cum-convictedfelon Martha Stewart against Andrew Robertson, global head of ad agency BBDO, for batter-bragging rights.
While they mixed and poured, Stewart joked that “waffling” might have kept her out of jail.
“My lawyers tried to get me to waffle,” she said, adding that if she had she may not have ended up behind bars. “But I wouldn’t do it.”