To do that, the company would have to prove Harrell did not deliver what he promised under his contract. Sources say PolyGram initially planned to fire Harrell for cause and considered suing him to recover the bulk of his signing fee. PolyGram has no executive on tap to replace Harrell, but the company will report directly to Danny Goldberg, who is expected to be elevated from president to chairman of Mercury Records sometime next week. Although no immediate changes will take place at Motown, sources say that staff and roster cutbacks are likely. On Monday, Levy and PolyGram Music Group President Roger Ames decided to remove Harrell and restructure Motown, placing it under the umbrella of its booming Mercury division, which also markets and distributes music by the Def Jam and Capricorn labels. If there is a total failure with the new acts signed, however, then, yeah, I have a duty to my shareholders and to myself to ask whether the guy is right for the job.” In an April interview with The Times, Levy issued a public warning to his Motown chief: “Andre has a string of albums coming out, and if those albums perform, there is no reason to get rid of an executive who is extremely talented. Last fall, Levy began to criticize Harrell’s management style and imposed a barrage of fiscal restrictions on Motown. By comparison, Harrell’s protege Combs and his Bertelsmann-affiliated Bad Boy Entertainment sold more current albums in the last two weeks than Harrell did during his entire tenure at Motown. Motown Records’ CEO Ethiopia Habtemariam Future 25. She will report directly to Universal Music Group Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge. market with only one minor hit on the pop chart by R&B group 702, which was signed before Harrell’s arrival. Music executive Ethiopia Habtemariam is now the Chairman/CEO of Motown Records, after serving as president since 2014. This week, Motown registered just half of 1% of the total U.S. They also frowned upon Harrell’s lavish spending on office renovations, executive staff and artist signings.ĭespite Harrell’s pledge to modernize Motown, the label’s market share continued to plunge during his tenure. PolyGram executives also were taken aback by Harrell’s bragging about the financial details of his Motown deal in interviews. During the first month of his tenure at Motown, Harrell stunned PolyGram executives by the amount of money he spent on self-promotion-including full-page, color ads Harrell took out in trade magazines touting his new position. But Levy and Harrell have been at odds almost since the day PolyGram announced the 37-year-old executive’s arrival at Motown.
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