[the below was fwd'd to dis by a concerned reader]

Dear Partners,
I want to share with you the news that Warner Music Group has launched a new
creative initiative known as the incubator system. This initiative will enable
the Music Group to take an innovative approach to forming relationships with
independent labels and artists, assisting them in the development of both
their artistic and executive talent by offering a variety of services,
resources and mentoring that many young labels and artists do not have access to.
The mission of the incubator system is to develop the independent music
executives and artists of tomorrow, with the ultimate goal of identifying promising
new artists who have the potential to be superstars at our own labels and to
create long-term relationships with the country's most pioneering
entrepreneurs.
The system will focus on both rock and urban music, and is highly flexible in
that the array of services and resources we are offering can be tailored to
the specific needs and priorities of the individual labels and artists.
The process of identifying which independent labels and which artists we want
to work with will be a collaborative effort involving our labels and a small
but extraordinarily talented group of WMG executives who will run the
incubator effort.
The incubator system will be led on the rock side by Fred Feldman, the
founder of Triple Crown Records, who has signed and developed such artists as Brand
New, Hot Rod Circuit and Northstar. Fred, the former president of Fat Beats
Records and general manager of Profile Records, has also worked with artists
including Atmosphere, J-Live, Run DMC, Rob Base, 2nd II None and DJ Quik.
Fred will work closely with Andy Allen, president of our own Alternative
Distribution Alliance. When Andy joined ADA from his role as general manager of
Island Records in 1994, the company was but one year old. Since then, Andy has
grown ADA into the premiere independent distribution company in the U.S. and is
ideally suited to support Fred, while continuing to run ADA.
Todd Moscowitz, who has been at Violator Management for the past three years,
will head up the urban incubator (known as Asylum). At Violator, he has
worked with artists including Missy Elliott, 50 Cent and Lil' Mo. Prior to joining
Violator, Todd was head of Rush Communications and later general manager of
Def Jam Records where he spent several years in business affairs and in
marketing and promotion.
Working alongside Todd at Asylum will be Ron Spaulding, who joined WEA in
2003 and most recently has served as Senior VP of Sales. Ron is a veteran sales
executive with a proven ability to market releases in multiple genres. He
joined WMG from Priority Records in 2000 as Senior VP for Sales at Elektra
Entertainment Group, where he oversaw the sales and retail marketing programs
for such artists as Missy Elliott, Staind, Metallica, Tweet and Phish, among
others.
Fred, Todd and Ron will report to WEA Corp.'s President John Esposito,
rounding out a superb lineup of executive talent. They are poised to do fantastic
things with our new incubator system, and this will inevitably lead to a
strengthening of our own roster. I trust that you will provide them with your
ideas, support and full cooperation.
Sincerely,
Lyor Cohen
[chairman Island Def-Jam]