Kierszenbaum coming back to Interscope

ON SECOND THOUGHT... That was quick. Martin Kierszenbaum, who left Interscope just five weeks ago, soon after John Janick was confirmed as the label’s President/COO in waiting, has done a 180 and returned. The A&R exec and Cherrytree Records head and Interscope have come to terms on a new deal, a source close to the situation confirmed to the bible. Terms of the deal were unclear, the story stated, but “recent talk” had it that Interscope is one of the few labels that could or would afford a deal with Kierszenbaum. That recent talk came from our own I.B. Bad in his latest column. “A source close to the situation said that a Hits report stating that ‘While talks continued into the night, Interscope ultimately pulled the deal off the table’ was an accurate assessment of the situation at the time,” the Billboard story further noted, acknowledging an earlier report from right here in Rumor Mill. A month ago, Kierszenbaum told BB that his and Cherrytree's deals with Interscope would end on June 30, and that he was looking "forward to sharing our plans for the next chapter of Cherrytree" soon. The next chapter now looks very much like the last chapter, which began in 2005. This drama has played out as Cherrytree/Interscope’s Ellie Goulding, is in the midst of a breakthrough behind the single "Lights," which has sold 1.2 million in the U.S., according to SoundScan, while the album of the same name was at 165k last week. Kierszenbaum also gets partial credit for LMFAO through a joint deal with will.i.am's label. Feist, La Roux, Robyn and Far East Movement are also signed to Cherrytree. (7/30a)