Music exec Iovine sees no need to rush releases

By Jonathan Cohen

NEW YORK (Billboard) - 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 this year's final stake in the heart of the retail music business.

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 as if the company doesn't have high-profile albums set for release before year's end: All-American Rejects, Soulja Boy, Keyshia Cole and, of course, Guns N' Roses' "Chinese Democracy," which arrived November 23 as a Best Buy exclusive.

Iovine spoke to Billboard about the release schedule and the state of the business.

Q: November 23 was an exciting day for a lot of Guns N' Roses fans. What are your thoughts now that this record is a reality?

Jimmy Iovine: Axl (Rose) 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 percent of the rock records out there? Yes. I'm just thrilled for him.

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

Iovine: 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.

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

Iovine: 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.

Q: So, let's move from a record that is coming out this year to some that aren't, like U2 and Eminem.

Iovine: I met with the guys in U2, and they say to me, 'You know what? This album needs two more songs, and it will be exactly what we have in mind.' I go there and I listen, and I agreed with them. It's a great record, but it deserves the time. Labels need to work with artists to help them achieve their best work, not to jam records out that are half-baked or three-quarters baked.

I'll tell you about Eminem. We only tried to put him out this year to replace Dr. Dre, but we got into a quagmire. Eminem was always coming next year. But what happened was, I lost Dr. Dre to Eminem. Dre had to stop making his album to finish Eminem's album. Eminem hit a streak, and when a guy like Eminem gets on fire, you stop everything. That's how we lost Dre.

Q: So what's the status of Dre's record?

Iovine: Dre's going back in (to record) in January. He'll be finished with Eminem by then, and he'll finish his album.

Q: There's a rumor in the retail world that the Eminem album might be sold through an exclusive deal as well.