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HITS Daily Double
"All the record companies recognize that the day has come to challenge tradition, and all felt that any opportunities to reduce their costs dramatically must be considered."

FIVE QUESTIONS WITH JIM CAPARRO

In Which the New WEA Ruler Talks and We Write Down His Answers
Former PolyGram Group Distribution and Island Def Jam Music Group Chairman Jim Caparro will take his place as CEO of WEA at the end of July. Until then, he’s got some time to kill, and what better way to kill time (and brain cells) than by trying to understand the unintelligible gurgling of our own beloved Marc Pollack? Caparro, who has also been named Chairman of WEA’s newly formed Global Media Manufacturing and Distribution Committee, will be a very busy man in short order and will probably never talk to us again, so it’s good we were able to wake Marc up now.

What brought you back into the game?
We had gone through the process of trying to put my new company together, but it never got to the point of having a sense of reality for me. I decided then that I’d had enough vacation, so I was ready to rock.

Your plan was to form a centralized distribution company by combining backroom functions at the majors under one roof. Did it meet with resistance?
No. As a matter of fact, Wall Street embraced it totally, to the tune of supporting it with significant investment. All the record companies recognize that the day has come to challenge tradition, and all felt that any opportunities to reduce their costs dramatically must be considered.

In your new role at WEA, can you still forge an alliance to combine backroom functions with other labels, or is that now out of the question?
I wouldn’t say anything is out of the question, but what I would say is that my first focus is to do everything possible to make the WEA organization the best it can possibly be.

Have you stayed in touch with Roger Ames since your days at PolyGram, and what does it mean for you to reunite with him?
I’ve been in contact with Roger through the years. Roger is one of the most talented music executives there is. Having worked with him and for him before, it’s very exciting for me to be teamed with him again.

There has been talk for quite a while that WEA was going to revamp its West Coast operation, possibly including bringing in a President.
I have no opinion today about anything. I don’t want to make changes for the sake of change. God gave me two ears, two eyes and one mouth. I’m going to listen and watch twice as much as I talk in the beginning.