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HITS Daily Double
Since being named Arista's President/ CEO in May 2000, succeeding music-biz legend Clive Davis, Reid has had to deal with detractors who questioned whether anybody could replace the only leader the label had ever known.

REID HIS HITS

Arista Ruler, Who's Breaking Acts Left, Right and Center, Lands Three in This Week’s Top 10
Never mind the critics, he’s got the bottom line.

L.A. Reid has proved he knows what he’s doing. The Arista Records boss has dispatched the remaining naysayers like Lennox Lewis took care of Mike Tyson—with swiftness and resolve.

This week, Reid's label sports two albums in the Top Five and three in the Top 10, paced by debuts from Donell Jones (#4) and newcomer Avril Lavigne’s Let Go. (#8). Bad Boy’s P. Diddy We Invented the Remix album is still going strong at #3, on the heels of his hit duet with Usher, "I Need a Girl." In addition, Pink maintains her multi-Platinum pace at #17, with domestic sales closing in on 3 million OTC as Usher’s 8701 nears 4 million.

Since being named the label’s President/CEO in May 2000 by then-BMG boss Strauss Zelnick, succeeding music-biz legend Clive Davis, Reid has had to deal with detractors who questioned whether anybody could replace the only leader Arista had known in its 25-year history. It was a controversial move that evoked much second-guessing.

After a period of transition, though, L.A. has put a strong team in place, including Exec. VP/GM Larry Mestel, Exec. VP Lionel Ridenour, Sr. VP Promotion Steve Bartels, Sr. VP Marketing & Artist Relations Mark Shimmel and Sr. VP Sales Jordan Katz. Reid and his posse have broken acts like Usher, Pink and rockers Adema wide open, re-upped Whitney Houston and signed Boyz II Men. The label is currently #6 in YTD marketshare, at 4.2%, which has helped boost parent BMG into second place with 17.6%, behind only UMG's dominating 29.1%.

This week, the reinvented Arista label scored big with Jones’ third album and 17-year-old Lavigne’s debut. Jones had his highest first-week chart bow ever, spurred by the Urban crossover hit, "You Know That I Love You." He was known as co-writer of such hits as Usher’s "Think of You" and Silk’s "However You Want It" before scoring on his own with the 1999 Gold single, "U Know What’s Up," which featured the late Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes.

The Canadian-born Lavigne’s first album, executive-produced by Reid himself (who calls her "one of the best new artists of this year"), has resulted in critical and commercial acclaim, based on exposure for the first single/video, "Complicated," at MTV’s TRL and elsewhere. She’s also performed the song on Jay Leno, Craig Kilborn and Nickelodeon and is currently on tour with her "sk8er punk band."