Geffen, Interscope Layoff Several Employees

Home

News

Videos

Features

Site Last Updated: 5:45 AM EDT, December 1, 2008	Make BallerStatus Your Homepage

Published: Saturday - December 15, 2007
Words by Miles Bennett

Geffen Records' recording artist and Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am (Photo: Geffen Records)

Geffen and Interscope Records laid several of their staff on Thursday (December 13) -- a result of a rumored merger between the two record companies.

According to reports, several of the employees who lost their jobs, many had worked there for several years. There is no confirmed number, but Billboard.biz reports 15, while other outlets have reported as many as 60.

One of the rumored reasons for the cutbacks was the declining sales of the labels' major stars -- specifically several recent albums that were deemed failures.

A recent release from Will.i.am failed, and singles from artists such as Nicole Scherzinger and rapper Eve not taking off resulted in their albums repeatedly being pushed back. These factors have cost the labels millions of dollars.

"It cost $18 million to make and market those three albums -- all bombs," a source told PerezHilton.com. "Jimmy Iovine [the head of Interscope responsible for the layoffs] is the most hated man in music today!"

One, now, former employee confirmed the layoffs with us Thursday.

The job layoffs are the latest in a string of major label cuts, which included Island Def Jam and Sony BMG earlier this month.

Story Tools
Email It | Print It | Post A Comment |

Digg It |

Del.icio.us

COMMENTS (5)

lucky Says:
Monday - December 17, 2007 at 3:08pm

American Idol is proof that mainstream music is complete crap. So much so, that record companies have to blow $18M promoting 3 albums to essentially "hype" you in to buying them.

Eva Says:
Sunday - December 16, 2007 at 9:52pm

This is what record labels get from trying to shove "garbage" and calling it music down the buying public throats. I am not a record exec and I knew that Nicole Scherzinger, Will.i. am and Eve songs were not going to be hits. Nicole appears to be banking on her looks to sell records--not any quality of music; I don't know what Will.i.am was trying to do; and Eve appeared to be banking on the same old tired artist such as Sean Paul, who has the same old sound with everything he does. They would not promote or support Robin Thicke, who actually has something to offer in favor of artists who could not make the grade.

gunit crip 4life Says:
Sunday - December 16, 2007 at 10:37am

i remember when 50 said these words quote.... " told Jimmy Iovine's ass to shut da fuk up " Fuk Jimmy ...

JoeMama Says:
Sunday - December 16, 2007 at 10:02am

How many weak cd's are these artists going to put out before they learn if you use weak beats and have lame flows nobody is going to buy it. Look at cham's cd weak single like hip-hop police, it bombed. But then looks at the cd's that were hits like nelly furtado had good promo and hot beats.

dustin Says:
Saturday - December 15, 2007 at 4:59pm

who else is on greffen records?

Top Stories

	News Man Stabbed, Woman Shot In The Head Following Webbie Concerts A Florida man was stabbed outside a Boca Raton nightclub early Friday (November 28), where rapper Webbie was performing.According ... full story
	Features Slim (of 112): Hi Haters What else do you want from Slim? His prolific group 112 has sold over 20 million records worldwide, and with a bevy ... full story
	Editorials & Columns Scouting Report: Bambu You can refer to Bambu with various terms: rebel, revolutionist, Filipino, thug, artist. From the outside looking in, ... full story
	Beyond Hip-Hop Game Review: Far Cry 2 Gone are Jack Carver, his Hawaiian shirt, and the trigens from the first installment of "Far Cry," but in comes spine ... full story
	Video Bambu: Like Us (Music Video) We recently featured Filipino rapper, Bambu, in our Scouting Report column, and now, he's just dropped a new video. ... full story