Time Warner has released a statement in support of Warner Music, after a throw away remark from the company's chief executive in an interview with New Yorker magazine seemed to dis the music company.
Time Warner flogged its record company to Edgar Bronfman Jnr and friends back in 2004, of course, though I'm pretty sure they still have a share in it. When Warner Music Group was brought up in the interview, Time Warner CEO Dick Parsons said: "They're living off their catalogue", possibly a reference to other insider criticism that Bronfman Jnr and his top man Lyor Cohen have failed to deliver any truly successful new talent since taking over the major. As you'll remember, gossipers concluded that new signing James Blunt has become an international hit for Warner despite rather than because of the company's leadership - early attempts to sign him in the US apparently being hindered by the Bronfman/Cohen restructure, and subsequent success came courtesy of the major's London office and Warner International.
Anyway, through a disclaimer quoted in the New York Post, Time Warner would like to stress quite strongly that: "Dick's comments in the New Yorker ... were not intended to criticise the Warner Music Group. Dick thinks Edgar and his team have done a great job in rebuilding and reviving the company. They've undertaken several new initiatives in the digital music space and have adopted an innovative approach to artist development and discovery - all with impressive results."