2008.11.24 - Billboard - Iovine Talks Axl, U2, Dre, Eminem

Exclusive: Iovine Talks Axl, U2, Dre, Eminem

By Jonathan Cohen

When Universal Music Group pushed highly anticipated albums from U2, Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent from the fourth quarter to 2009, it seemed like a final stake in the heart of music retail this year.

But Interscope-Geffen-A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine refuses to apologize for the decision, which he says he made to ensure the projects would be the best they could be. And it's not like the company doesn't have some big album coming before year's end: All-American Rejects, Soulja Boy, Keyshia Cole and, of course, Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy," which arrived yesterday (Nov. 23) as a Best Buy exclusive.

Iovine spoke exclusively to Billboard about the release schedule, retail exclusives and what parts of his business are growing.

Yesterday was an exciting day for a lot of Guns N' Roses fans. What are your thoughts now that this record is a reality?

Axl delivered a great Guns N' Roses album. Period. He did. It took him a long time for whatever reasons. I am sure there were many different reasons. Bottom line is, he did it. It's hard to say if something is worth the wait, because how the hell do any of us know? I judge it based on what it is. Does it sound better than 99% of the rock records out there? Yes. I'm just thrilled for him.

The proliferation of retail exclusives like Guns N' Roses with Best Buy has been one of the biggest stories of the year. What are you thoughts on how this has developed?

With the confusion and how much media is spread out and how hard it is to market things to a mass audience right now, I think you'll see the labels needing marketing partners to drive this music, whether it's a song, an album or a new configuration. In this case, Best Buy gave this album a great deal of marketing that we couldn't have gotten any other way. Now we have the press on our side as well, which is extraordinary.

But what about indie retailers who throw their arms up because of deals like this? Is there a silver lining for them?

I don't know the answer to that. But when a guy works that hard on a record, you want to give it the best possible chance it has. We found a great partner in Best Buy, and Axl's new management felt it was a good idea. It looks like it's going to do really well. I mean, really, really well. Beyond anybody's expectations.

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https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/266203/exclusive-iovine-talks-axl-u2-dre-eminem

The rest of the interview is about U2 etc.