This article was updated at 7:20 p.m.
NEW YORK — MCA Records president Jay Boberg, who built an enviable reputation in the business developing cutting-edge talent over the past two decades, ankled Thursday after more than seven years at his post.
Departure comes after a tough year in which major hits were hard to come by.
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MCA promotion boss Craig Lambert will take the reins as interim prexy. Universal Music Group maintained Thursday that MCA would remain a free-standing entity within the group; a UMG rep said the company would find a permanent successor within months.
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Nevertheless, Boberg’s long-expected departure served to reignite perennial rumors Thursday about the future of the 30-year-old label, which remained a single entity during the creation of UMG during the late 1990s.
Under one scenario making the rounds, MCA would come under the control of Interscope/Geffen/A&M boss Jimmy Iovine. Iovine is close to renegotiating his contract with UMG, and the major may use MCA as a carrot to keep the respected exec in the fold.
Earlier rumors, however, had MCA fusing with New York-based Universal Records, home to such artists as Nelly and Godsmack. The merger would give U a much-needed and long-sought strategic presence on the West Coast.
During his tenure at MCA, Boberg significantly diversified the artist roster, but, like others before him, he struggled to carve out an identity under the shadow of growing behemoths Interscope/Geffen/A&M and Island Def Jam.
Label had some strong successes with multiplatinum R&B acts like Mary J. Blige and K-Ci & JoJo as well as dancehall act Shaggy, who fielded the top-selling album of 2001, the six-times-platinum release “Hotshot.”
Boberg also inked deals with Rawkus Records — home to respected hip-hop acts Mos Def and Talib Kweli, as well as punk-pop imprint Drive-Thru Records. Exec was particularly proud of signing the mercurial and creative Icelandic group Sigur Ros — an unlikely move for a major label — and African star Femi Kuti.
“The roster I leave behind at MCA is an artistic and creative gold mine,” Boberg wrote in an internal memo to label staffers Thursday, “an artist lineup we can truly be proud of.”
Sour note
But big sellers were getting increasingly scarce over the past year as the overall industry hit a nasty sales slump. Shaggy’s followup album, “Lucky Day,” fell far short of its predecessor in sales, and releases from acts such as New Found Glory and Common didn’t make a big splash.
The lack of blockbuster hits took a bite out of MCA’s market share for 2002: Share of current albums sank by 14% to 2.37%, while overall share slipped by just under 9% to 2.61%.
Boberg cut his teeth in the music biz while still at UCLA as a college rep for A&M Records. In his early 20s, Boberg became president of I.R.S. Records, which released some of the most important punk and new wave artists of the 1980s including R.E.M., the Buzzcocks, the Go-Go’s and the English Beat.
