Davis, McGee Launch New Labels

Clive Davis, former head of Arista Records, has agreed on terms with BMG for his as-yet-unnamed new label venture, according to The Hollywood Reporter. But don't expect to see any of Davis' legendary stable of established hit-makers on the new label's roster.

Although Davis built Arista into a house of hits via savvy signings — including Whitney Houston, Sarah McLachlan, the Eurythmics, and Patti Smith — and helped revive Carlos Santana's flagging career, his new label is rumored to be concentrating on developing new talent. Among the former Arista artists that will join Davis at his new home are Deborah Cox, Angie Stone, Next, LFO, and teenage blues sensation Shannon Curfman.

Sources say Davis, 67, will share a 50 percent equity stake in the $180 million joint venture with Davis Entertainment, which will be the label's holding company. But so far, BMG is keeping mum on the subject; an official announcement is expected next week. "Discussions are ongoing, and an announcement will be made shortly," a BMG spokesman told the Reporter. "Beyond that, no comment."

On the other side of the pond, U.K. rock impresario Alan McGee, who gave Oasis its first record deal, is taking a different approach to financing his new label. Today, he rocked the London stock market when the price of share in his Poptones imprint climbed 50 percent above the offer price on the day of its debut, placing the value of the new venture at roughly $25.65 million.

Retail investors are hoping that McGee, who founded his seminal Creation Records in 1983 with a bank loan of less than $1,500, can find more successful acts like Oasis and Primal Scream. And McGee hopes that investors will spare him the agony of getting into bed with a major label again; in 1992, on the brink of financial ruin, he sold 49 percent of Creation to Sony for $5.6 million.

"You've either got to go to Universal, Sony, or whoever — or you go to the stock market," said McGee in an interview for CNBC television. "I've had a dictatorial paymaster in Sony coming down from New York saying 'do it this way,' 'do it that way.' … I thought going to the stock market was actually a more interesting and creative way to approach my business."

But while the name of his new company comes from a song title by ex-Sex Pistol John (Johnny Rotten) Lydon's band Public Image Ltd., McGee isn't entirely averse to working within the system. "I'm not anti-commercial," he insisted. "I like selling lots of records."

Reuters contributed to this report