Jay-Z leaving Def Jam

As the music industry slogs into 2008, the record labels will be without one of their most famous and recognizable moguls. Rapper/entrepreneur Jay-Z has opted not to renew his contract as president of Def Jam Records. He will, however, continue to record for Roc-A-Fella, which released his popular companion to the film "American Gangster" earlier this year.

Don't, however, bet on Jay-Z staying out of the business side of the music industry for long.

His exit from Def Jam has been rumored for months. Many have predicted he would join Rick Rubin at Columbia Records. And in a recent interview with Billboard's Gail Mitchell, he hinted at developing a new label outside of the Universal Music Group system.

Said Jay-Z: "It's really about trying to invest in the future, trying to invest in maybe coming up with a new model. Because going in hard making records with artists and throwing those records into a system that's flawed is not exciting for me. It's not the music; people ingest music the same way. It's just that the model of selling CDs has changed. So doing things the typical way is not in the best interests of anyone and not exciting for me. My whole thing is, how do we invest in the future? If everyone is committed to doing that, then I'm sure there's a deal to be made."

Elsewhere in the piece, Jay-Z spoke fondly of Radiohead's pay-what-you-want model, and took a skeptical view on 360-deals, which see a label investing in all aspects of an artist's career.

Comments

[Jonah]

Jay-Z was booted hard out the door.

[julius.kent@gmail.com]

who gives a f*%k

[Cheryll]

Finally somebody has the vision and the guts to change the system at the top. J-Z is leaving a dinasour and him and Rubin are ready to deal with today's music biz realtiy.

[James Williams]

I never thought Shawn Carter was a good choice to be president of Def Jam. Really the only huge hit-maker he brought to Roc-a-fella was himself. Siegel, Bleek, etc. all remain anonymous to the general public. Kanye is the only comparable artist and Damon Dash signed him over Carter's objections. While Carter can count Rihanna and Ne-Yo as successes on Def Jam, he caused LL Cool J to leave after 20 years on the label, Method Man made disparaging comments about his leadership, and despite signing the Roots, Carter failed to market their talent to mainstream audiences. ?uestlove said in an interview that Jay-z told him he didn't care about hits, he just wanted to make good music. However, he alienated the real emcees on the label while catering to R&B acts. I understand trying to appeal to current market trends, but he should have balanced that with keeping Def Jam a rap label and used his influence to take Method Man, the Roots, and other underrated rap artists to new heights. Hopefully, Def Jam will select a visionary marketing/business mind instead of an artist who took his "boss" persona too seriously.