An Interview with Former CBS Head Walter Yetnikoff

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 who’s 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: The Odyssey of a Monstrous Music Mogul in an Age of Excess, was published in 2004.

Walter Yetnikoff, the legendary former head of CBS Records, speaks frankly and on the record about his opinion of author Fred Dannen and his book Hit Men: Power Brokers and Fast Money Inside the Music Business, why major labels today are failing to capitalize on the new artists they sign, and why the record industry has thus far completely missed out on the internet music revolution.