RCA Chief to Head Bertelsmann N. America Music

Bob Jamieson, president of Bertelsmann Music Group’s RCA record label, was elevated to chief executive of Bertelsmann’s North America music operations as part of a reorganization of the company’s management team.

The move follows the appointment of former television executive Rolf Schmidt-Holtz to run the media giant’s music division. Schmidt-Holtz was named to the job after the unexpected departures in November of Chief Executive Strauss Zelnick and Chairman Michael Dornemann, who were forced out in a power struggle and replaced by BMG veteran Rudi Gassner. Gassner died of a heart attack in December.

Sources said RCA General Manager Jack Rovner is the leading candidate to succeed Jamieson at the label, home to such acts as Christina Aguilera and the Dave Matthews Band.

The shifts also come as Bertelsmann is pushing a proposed merger with EMI Group to create the world’s biggest record conglomerate.

If the deal is approved, Bertelsmann is counting on teaming Schmidt-Holtz with Ken Berry, a music industry veteran who has been running EMI’s music division for five years.