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Industry Vet Kovac Forms New Management Firm
By Melinda Newman
Dateline: LOS ANGELES
Typed up by Debra

Industry veteran Allen Kovac has launched the Kovac Media Group, a management company whose clients include Bee Gees, Blondie, Deana Carter, Mötley Crüe, the Go-Gos, Heart, Hanson, Yes, and Meat Loaf, as well as a number of developing acts.

In addition to his management clients joining him in the new venture, Kovac's longtime team of managers--including Carol Peters, Jordan Berliant, Laurie Dunham, and Jeff Verner--are also aboard. "They've all worked with me for five to 10 years," he says. "We're really excited, because we have a lot of artists putting out albums this year."

Kovac built the company from the remnants of his former firm, Left Bank, which he liquidated (along with label Beyond Music) at the end of 2002 because of "fundamental disagreements" with his former partner, Jeffrey Sydney. On Dec. 31, 2002, Kovac filed an arbitration lawsuit alleging that Sydney manipulated and defrauded him and made it impossible to continue to run the companies as they existed (Billboard, Jan. 11). Sydney could not be reached for comment by press time.

Kovac declined to discuss the suit other than to say, "I'm proud of the fact that I was able to clear up the secured creditors and have allowed for the unsecured creditors to be handled. It's been a year-and-a-half nightmare, and I'm happy to move on to the next chapter of my life."

Among his developing artists with upcoming projects are DreamWorks act Loudermilk and Elektra duo the Troys. Additionally, Mötley Crüe is working on a movie based on its 2001 best-selling autobiography, Meat Loaf has an album coming out March 31 on Universal ex-U.S. (Kovac is shopping a North America deal), and Heart and Hanson are wrapping up new albums.

Kovac doesn't rule out bowing a new record company down the road. "Maybe in the future, I'll start a label again," he says, "but my intentions are to focus purely on the management group." He estimates that he laid off more than two dozen staffers in the Beyond liquidation. Many of the artists on Beyond have found new homes: Mötley Crüe has signed to Universal Music Enterprises. Blondie has an ex-U.S. pact with Sony International, and Anthrax has signed to ArtistDirect.