Tommy Boy Records founder and CEO Tom Silverman is ready to pull the plug on his joint-venture deal with Warner Music Group.
The head of the New York-based label known primarily for its rap and dance acts told The Post he would like to get out of his contract with Warner before it expires in 18 months.
“They’re getting ready to be in a quagmire, and I’m looking to get further away from that,” Silverman said of Warner’s upcoming merger with America Online and EMI Music.
“Size is not a benefit anymore. It’s smarter, easier, and more efficient to stay out of that atmosphere.”
Silverman’s deal with Warner, which owns 50 percent of Tommy Boy, allows him to buy out Warner – at a price well below the $150 million-to-$200 million market value – after the contract expires.
Relations between Warner and Tommy have not always been peaceful.
Silverman sold 50 percent of Tommy Boy, currently home to such artists as De La Soul, Everlast and Capone and Noreaga, to Warner in 1985.
He sold the remaining 50 percent to the music giant in 1989.
But the indie music mogul quickly grew disillusioned with being just an employee and lobbied hard to regain an equity position.
In 1996, he was victorious and won back 50 percent of his highly-successful label, after negotiating with Bob Daly and Terry Semel – the former Warner Music heads who were worried they would lose a key executive with the ability to bring in multi-platinum urban hits.
Silverman said his next step is to find the “right dancing partner.”
“We’re a fully autonomous company, big enough to impose ourselves on marketing, yet small enough to move fast and think out of the box,” he said.
Silverman said the 20-year-old label uses its own distribution network, but has the option to release products through the Warner system.
His label has become a popular stomping ground for smaller independents looking to land distribution deals.
The indie mogul had major success with independently distributed Naughty By Nature, whose first single, “O.P.P.,” sold more than about 1.1 million copies.
Silverman is looking at the Internet as a major force for his label.
“The greatest benefit the Internet provides to small companies is its ability to dramatically reduce the burdens of nationwide – even worldwide – distribution of products,” he said.
“Small record labels often form relationships with major record labels such as Warner Bros. or Universal to distribute CD’s … Through the Internet, however, small labels can sell and distribute their artists’ music without forming those distribution relationships.”