RUBIN'S IN AT COLUMBIA

Rick Rubin has joined Columbia Records to, in the words of the press release, "form a dynamic and creative executive partnership with Steve Barnett."

Devised with Sony Music N.A. head Rob Stringer, the pairing "will enable Columbia to be at the forefront of artist development while building a new business model." Now Rick can get back to producing the next Neil Diamond album.

Upon making the announcement, Barnett commented: “Rick is a fantastic producer, tremendous with artists and has total respect within the industry as an honest man and a creative genius. It is a great opportunity for me to have in Rick a true creative partner.”

Stringer added: “With Steve and Rick running Columbia together, they possess every skill necessary to make the label an exciting and powerful musical force in this new era.”

“Having the opportunity to work with Steve and Rob to help create what we hope will be the new model for the music business of the future is going to be a fun and exciting adventure,” said Rubin. “And you have to give them a lot of credit for having the vision to enlist a music maker instead of a more traditional choice.”

Rubin will bring his American Recordings imprint to the company that includes artists Slayer, Dan Wilson and (International) Noise Conspiracy, as well as the American Recordings catalog which included recordings by Johnny Cash, Black Crowes, Danzig, the Jayhawks and numerous others.

Rubin, just named by Time Magazine as one of the “100 Most Influential People in the World”, won the Grammy Award this year in the categories of Producer of the Year, Album of the Year, Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Rock Album of the Year and Country Album of the Year. In addition to producing albums for Sony BMG, Rubin will continue his producing activities for artists at other major labels. In this capacity he will continue to produce artists signed to Warner Bros.