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Who

Formerly the CEO of the Zomba Label Group, Weiss was appointed CEO of BMG in 2008, replacing the legendary Clive Davis.

Backstory

Weiss's father, Hyman "Hy" Weiss, was the founder of Old Town Records, which pioneered the doo-wop genre in the '50s and '60s with acts like Solitaires, the Harptones, and the Capris. Native Long Islander Barry began working for his father while a student at Cornell, promoting songs on the radio in upstate New York. In 1982, fresh out of college, he was hired by Clive Calder to join a new record label that Calder had founded, Zomba; Weiss found success with acts like A Flock of Seagulls and Billy Ocean and branched out into rap and hip hop with Whodini and KRS-One. Weiss eventually became Calder's right-hand at the company; while the notoriously secretive South African billionaire lurked in the shadows, over the course of the 1990s Weiss helped turn Zomba into the biggest independent record label in the world, thanks to acts like Britney Spears, the Backstreet Boys, and N*SYNC. Following Calder's sale of his share of Zomba to BMG in 2002 for $2.7 billion, Weiss was named Zomba's CEO. He moved up to chairman and CEO of BMG Label Group in 2008.

Of note

Following Calder's sale of Zomba and the demise of the boy band, some speculated that the label would have a hard time remaining in business, particularly given the general downturn in the music industry. But Weiss managed to keep Zomba afloat by running a tight ship and keeping costs down. He also had a few big hits to help bolster the bottom line, including releases by several new artists (Chris Brown, T-Pain) as well as profitable albums by longtime Zomba talents like Justin Timberlake and R. Kelly. Weiss also managed to perform impressively on the new media front: He carved on a healthy ring tone and online download business, which accounted for 40% of the company's revenue in 2007.

Weiss's reputation for managing expenses and exploiting new technologies earned him a promotion in 2008 when he replaced Clive Davis as BMG's chairman and CEO. (The legendary record exec is now the company's chief creative officer.) Weiss now presides over the entire collection of labels under the BMG banner, including RCA Records, Jive, LaFace and Arista. Artists affiliated with BMG include The Strokes, Alicia Keys, Usher, OutKast, Dave Matthews Band, the Foo Fighters, Britney Spears, Sarah McLachlan, and Avril Lavigne.

Personal

Weiss's wife is named Randi; they live with their kids in Demarest, New Jersey.