David Mount sets records.

Warner/Elektra/Atlantic Corp.'s CEO is leading the recorded music giant into a new generation of home music/video/gaming systems

David Mount used to play the banjo, and even a little bit of trumpet.

Now he orchestrates the most-powerful recorded-music distribution company in the world - Burbank-based Warner/Elektra/Atlantic Corp.

As president and CEO of WEA, Mount oversees just about every business aspect of the music business, from manufacturing to distribution, from marketing and promotion to packaging. The creative aspects of the business - what Mount modestly refers to as "the important side" - he leaves to those at New York-based Warner Music U.S., the music division of Time Warner Inc.

But WEA is involved in much more than just music. The company also makes and distributes home videos of films for Warner Bros. and Live Home Video, and CD-ROM titles for a variety of multimedia companies. WEA is also involved in the development of Time Warner's new Digital Video Disk project with Toshiba Corp. to develop a new generation of home music/video/gaming systems.

Mount's charge is to make sure that it all runs smoothly.

"I view my job as (L.A. Dodger Manager) Tommy Lasorda's," Mount says. "I've got a lot of talented people and superstars working for me, and it's my job to get them all on the field and playing together.

"I don't have to hit the home run or strike out the batter. I just have to make sure the right guy is on the mound."

Mount shares one more attribute with Lasorda - success in a business as much known for the egos and temperaments of its stars as for their performance before the fans.

"Anytime you're working with creative people, there is a certain amount of ego involved," Mount says. "It's part of the creative process.

"On the other hand, I have to tell you that most of the artists that we work with are very straight-ahead people. They are anxious to be involved in our marketing and sales efforts; they work hard; they will do in-stores (promotions) with us; they will meet customers.

"Most of them are pretty savvy," Mount continues. "They've got good managers and good people around them to help them keep their feet on the floor."

Mount is also described as savvy by his colleagues, among them Warren Lieberfarb, president of Warner Home Video, where Mount worked as vice president of sales from 1984 to 1988. Warner Home Video is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. that licenses product for video distribution.

"Like Teddy Roosevelt," Lieberfarb says, "Dave Mount walks tall and carries a big stick. That big stick is his keen mind, in his preparedness.

"He's thorough, he's complete and he's always prepared," Lieberfarb continues. "He doesn't need to use theatrics to be effective."

Mount began his career in music like many - working part-time in the local music store to help pay some college bills. In Mount's case, it was Musicland's store in Lincoln Neb. Mount soon became the store manager, then joined the company's distribution business upon graduation.

Mount spent the next decade on the move with Musicland in such places as Chicago, Denver, Miami and Los Angeles - "I think my daughter went to five different grammar schools," he says - before he ended up heading the company's West Coast distribution operation. It was in that capacity - as a wholesale customer buying records from the recording company - that he was first exposed to WEA.

Mount joined WEA as a branch marketing coordinator in the Los Angeles office in 1977, and rose to field sales manager and regional sales manager.

In the early 1980s, then-WEA president and CEO Henry Droz turned to Mount to help lead the company's foray into the compact disc era, and Mount was soon after named WEA's first national vice president of video and sales distribution. In 1984, Mount left WEA Corp. to become Warner Home Video's sales chief.

Mount moved to Live Home Video in 1988, where he was named president and chief operating officer the following year and then added the CEO title in 1990. A year after that, he mounted to the post of parent company Live Entertainment's CEO.

At Live, Mount negotiated a distribution deal for Live's videos with WEA. On the verge of retirement, Henry Droz convinced Mount to rejoin WEA to replace him as president and CEO in 1993.

Time Warner does not break out WEA's revenues, but company officials said that 1994 was the company's best year to date. With the overall recording industry experiencing double-digit percentage annual growth in sales, and WEA leading all distributors in market share, it seems like a valid claim.

WEA's 1994 market share was about 24 percent. Its nearest competitor, the Sony Music Group, had about 16 percent.

Given a total music market of about $12 billion last year, that would place WEA's revenues from recorded music alone at about $3 billion.

For the first three months of 1995, Mount has led WEA to the top of the market-share charts again, claiming about 22 percent of the market.

All of which gives Mount little time to play the banjo and trumpet these days. "And I do miss it," he admits.

"But I was never great at either instrument," Mount concedes with a grin. "That's why I'm in sales."

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David Mount

Native of: Jersey City, N.J.

Resident of: Westlake Village

Age: 51

Education: B.A. in political science, University of Nebraska; M.B.A., Pepperdine University

Spouse: Sheri