There’s a chance that money and a power struggle have come between Jay-Z and L.A Reid. After Reid named Jay-Z the CEO of the Def Jam label, many in the music industry were surprised by the move, but after two years, he’s proved to some that the move was the right one. Still, his contract is up at the years’ end and that’s where the problem starts.
Rumor from the New York Daily News is that Jay-Z wants more money and it’s more than Reid is prepared to pay the platinum selling artist/CEO. An industry insider says that the Jiggaman is asking for several million to be added to his base salary plus “bonus bumps” on records that do well. The same insider say, Reid isn’t going for it and that they’re “miles apart”.
Reid is said to be pondering how much time Jay plans to spend “working” in their offices now that he’s come out of “retirement” and touring again, as well as his numerous other projects (40/40 club, Rocawear, the Nets).
Reid laughed off the rumors, saying “We really love Jay . He’s so important to our company, there’s not much we wouldn’t do to keep him here, money being the least of them.” He also spoke about Jay-Z‘s outside ventures adding, “Everything he does is a complement to our business. We encourage it.” He said of the folks starting the rumors, “People at other labels may wish there was trouble. If you put the two of us in a room with an artist we want, we will sign that artist. It’s very hard to turn us down. I hope to work with him for many, many years. He’s magical. I need him.”
