AMG Opens Urban Division With Superstar Talent; Violator Management Team to Oversee New Music Entity.

Business Editors

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 20, 2000

Artists Management Group, the diversified talent management and production firm formed by Michael Ovitz, Rick Yorn and Julie Silverman-Yorn, announces the creation of a new urban entertainment division to be headed by Chris Lighty, founder of Violator Management, and his longtime business partner, Mona Scott.

Over the past 5 years, Lighty and Scott have built Violator into an urban management and label powerhouse. Their superstar roster, which includes Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliot, Mobb Deep, Q-Tip and Noreaga, among others, merges hip hop's musical elite with AMG's already stellar lineup.

In conjunction with the current AMG Music Division, run by Kevin Gasser and Scott McGhee, Lighty and Scott will continue to focus on client management, while also developing music-related programming for film, TV, animation and new media, with an emphasis on the urban marketplace. In addition to bringing their urban lifestyle expertise to all of AMG's divisions, the two executives will also be working with AMG Sports to create new synergies for sports and music clients.

Lighty and Scott plan to continue the work that made Violator a consistently profitable operation, one that guided its artists to sales of over 10 million albums per year over the past 5 years and expanded hip hop from the underground to the mainstream via commercials, film and clothing deals. In 1999, Violator had 5 artists' albums debut in the Top 5 of the Billboard Top 200 Album Charts including VIOLATOR THE ALBUM, a compilation featuring artists from the company. (VIOLATOR THE ALBUM was praised by Entertainment Weekly as &uot;...a diamond sharp survey of today's fiercest street funk.&uot;) Recently, the company's artists received a total of 5 Grammy Award Nominations.

&uot;Chris Lighty has built an extraordinary company with an even better reputation,&uot; says Ovitz of the new business venture. &uot;Hip hop has become a cultural reference point for the world, and Chris and his partner, Mona Scott, have stayed on the cutting edge of this revolution. They are forward thinkers who anticipate these trends in music and have a keen awareness of what the audience wants.

&uot;We have a lot to learn from the marketing of the urban music scene. What began as a musical movement is now a part of everyday life-no matter who you are,&uot; Ovitz adds. &uot;By combining Chris and Mona's expertise and great taste with the architecture of AMG, we will be able to expand the scope of opportunity for all our clients.&uot;

&uot;We are excited about the opportunity to expand under the auspices of a businessman like Michael Ovitz. He, Rick Yorn, Kevin Gasser and the rest of AMG are at the top of their field, and they naturally fit with the artists we bring to the new urban entertainment division,&uot; Lighty says. &uot;Hip hop's influence has already spanned the globe, and AMG's wide variety of media interests will enable our artists to have even more success.&uot;

Adds Scott on the AMG/Violator merger: &uot;We have always considered ourselves and the artists we represent to be progressive and leaders in our field. This is another chapter in our growth and we accept the challenge!&uot;

Concludes Yorn: &uot;We are fortunate to be working with Chris Lighty, who is a superstar on every level. Mona Scott and he have built one of the premier music companies of its kind and AMG is looking forward to helping them accomplish their goals and the goals of their artists.&uot;

The new AMG urban entertainment division, which will retain the Violator name, will be based in New York.

AMG was founded in January 1999 as a management production company representing actors, writers, directors, musicians, producers and news personalities in the television, motion picture and music industries. The AMG umbrella includes: AMG Music, a full-service music management division; Artists Production Group, an independent production arm; AMG Animation, Hollywood's single largest roster of top animation talent; Artists Comedy Group, an entity that develops and produces comedy talent; and AMG Sports, which focuses on the management of sports professionals and the creation of sports programming for TV and new media.