MPTV via Reuters Frank Sinatra with Mo Ostin during a recording session in 1967.Īmong the many tributes, Frank Sinatra's daughter Nancy, a Reprise artist herself, writes that Ostin was 'a true force in the music industry and a real sweetheart.' Let's just make good records and turn those into hits.' 'Īfter leaving Warner in 1993, Ostin went on to head DreamWorks SKG, along with his son Michael and former Warner executive Lenny Waronker. 'He sat them down and he said, 'Look we need to stop trying to make hit records. Ames says, when Ostin took over Warner, he told his employees to change their approach.

Records, from Hendrix to Fleetwood Mac to Madonna to Prince. 'Mo was probably the most music conscious, music-centric chief executive of a record company in the rock and roll era,' says Peter Ames Carlin, the author of Sonic Boom: The Impossible Rise of Warner Bros. Under his leadership, the company was home to both mainstream pop stars like James Taylor and Fleetwood Mac to edgier artists such as Frank Zappa and The Sex Pistols. In 1970, Ostin became president of Warner Bros. Reprise was eventually bought by Warner Records.

In 1960, when Frank Sinatra started his own record label, Reprise, he hired Ostin as its administrative vice president. Ostin oversaw the careers of a long list of marquee talent: The Kinks, Jimi Hendrix, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young and Prince among them.īorn in New York to Russian immigrants, Ostin's early years in the business were spent at the jazz label Verve. The music industry is paying tribute to powerhouse record executive Mo Ostin who died 'peacefully in his sleep' on Sunday evening, according to a statement from Warner Records.

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