Walter Yetnikov
One of the most storied and controversial executives in the history of the record industry, Walter Yetnikoff was head of CBS Records from 1975 to 1990. Over the course of his career at CBS, he oversaw an explosive growth in record sales (both by his label group and the industry at large), became embroiled in numerous feuds with artists and rival executives, and presided over the sale of the CBS label group to Sony in 1988. Along the way, he made the careers of a whos who of modern rock and pop music Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Billy Joel among them. Today, Yetnikoff runs a small boutique label and is an in-demand public speaker. His memoir, Howling at the Moon: Confessions of a Music Mogul in an Age of Excess, was published in 2004.

WATCH THIS INTERVIEW!

Walter is an evil bastard, but I'd prefer he was back in charge compared to what we have now-a-days. Wow, how things have changed. --Shmoo

There is a full transcription of the interview at that link too!

"They sued 500 college kids that's really wonderful. I mean, you're going to stop the whole thing because you sued 500 college kids, who are your future consumers. Right? Who go out and tell their friends, "well fuck them!" You know. It's crazy!"

my favorite part of the interview!

Walter Yetnikoff was head of CBS Records from 1975 to 1990.

Along the way, he made the careers of a whos who of modern rock and pop music Michael Jackson, Bruce Springsteen, Paul Simon and Billy Joel among them.

Really? Paul Simon had a career before 1975. He left CBS in 1978 because he hated Yetnikoff. Springsteen moved elsewhere because Yetnikoff had "taken a 14-year relationship and trashed it for irrational purposes."

He created "the deal." He ruined CBS Records, fulfilling Mitch Miller's warning about what would happen "when the lawyers are making the decisions, and a lawyer is president of the company instead of a musician."