NEWS

Live Nation Wins The Jay-Z Bidding War

When Jay-Z announced the end of his presidential run at Def Jam, rumors of his next power move became a shell game of epic proportions. But instead of taking another executive role at a traditional label, a new report claims that Hov is pulling a Madonna by teaming up with mega-concert promoter Live Nation in a $150 Million deal (Madonna’s was only $120 Mil. Ha!). They will be financing his new label, Roc Nation, giving him $5 million a year for five years, along with another $25 million available to finance his acquisitions or investments.

We knew Hov would land on his feet. After the break, remember all his rumored post-Def Jam label deals that didn’t happen.

RUMOR #1: Jay-Z Goes To Warner Music Group
After Lyor Cohen, Kevin Liles and a slew of former Def Jam cronies moved over to WMG, rumors started flying about Hov following his former co-workers. Executive producing Lupe Fiasco’s Atlantic Records debut only fueled the gossip. When asked about the possibility by the NYDN, Lyor said, “I would be honored and privileged to work with him again…Bringing Jay-Z to the Warner Music Group would be a privilege and a coup. I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

RUMOR #2: Jay-Z Goes To Columbia Music Group
When Def Jam founder and “99 Problems” producer Rick Rubin took over Columbia Records in 2007, he quickly brought over longtime Roc-A-Fella employee Kyambo “Hip-Hop” Joshua. It didn’t take long for the streets to start talking about the possibility of Hov following next. The NYDN kicked off the rumor once again with a story claiming Rubin was a assembling a “supergroup of staff.”

RUMOR #3: Jay-Z Starts A Label With Beyoncé
Gossip site MediaTakeOut started this one last spring when they reported from an “inside source” that Hov and his boo would be joining forces after leaving Def Jam and Columbia, respectively. Early gossip also suggested that Apple’s Steve Jobs was interested in signing the power couple.

RUMOR #4: Jay-Z Goes To Apple
Days after Jay left his post at Def Jam, the Boy Genius Report blog “confirmed” the biggest rumor yet with a post containing info regarding his new venture with Apple, supposedly obtained from inside sources. This one was so assumed to be true that mainstream outlets like CNN even picked the story up.

RUMOR #5: Jay-Z Goes To Microsoft
While this rumor kicked off with a CNN Money article in 2006, it reared its ugly head again in early 2008, just days after the Apple rumor blew up. When Hov appeared in Bill Gate’s goodbye video at CES, it had some fans wondering if he was also being courted Apple’s competitor.

[Nah Right]