Rumor Mill Says Top Secret Management Start-up In Lyor Cohen’s Future

Lyor Cohen appears headed back to artist management after his exit this week as the CEO of Warner's recorded music division, according to several sources. The New York Daily News adds that Cohen used a code name with friends as he secretly developed the new talent management company over the last for two years while still heading Warner Music.

“He’s working to bridge the gap between label and management,” a source told the News, saying that Cohen has wanted to help record companies and bands work better together "for some time now.”  Some sources have Cohen adding a major branding component to his new firm.

Cohen's own words, in an email to associates announcing his resignation, seem to all but confirm the rumors:

“As WMG enters its next chapter, I’m ready to begin mine. I can’t yet announce what I’ll be doing next; I can only say that it will be something where I can work my entrepreneurial muscles and partner with artists…(I will) always been an entrepreneur at heart.”.