Talking of SonyBMG type things, more Andy-Lack-to-go rumours. As previously reported, gossipers say that SonyBMG chief Andy Lack is destined to be pushed out of his job as tensions between former Sony and former BMG execs at the top of the merged record company continue to rise. Lack apparently remains insistent he will stay, while former BMG types seem convinced he will go sooner rather than later. Either way, it seems some kind of clash in the SonyBMG boardroom is now inevitable and, with the board split equally between Sony and BMG men, it isn't clear how any clash of that kind could be resolved.
Word is that Sony Corp chief Howard Stringer and Bertelsmann top man Gunther Thielen are now in talks to try and find a solution for the executive tensions that are increasingly prevalent at their shared record company. Gossipers say there is real talk of one side of the partnership buying the other out, enabling which ever side does the acquisition to kick out all the board members from the other side in order to get their way. Some are even talking of the two companies un-doing the merger, though I don't see how that solution would be logistically possible given the extensive restructuring that has already taken place since the two majors merged.
It remains to be seen how this one rides out, though something will have to happen soon if Bertelsmann want to stop the departure of Michael Smellie at the end of the year. It was the resignation of Smellie, the highest standing former BMG exec in the SonyBMG hierarchy, that caused the anti-Lack movement in the BMG camp to become quite so proactive.