Steve Moir

President

Moir/Marie Entertainment LLC

Steve Moir, a 40-something longhaired ex-talent scout for MCA Records, has found a niche in the music business that makes him one of the industry’s most powerful players.

Instead of managing performers, Moir, president of Moir/Marie Entertainment LLC, manages mid-level recording-industry executives. He is considered one of the most fearsome negotiators in the business and critics blame him for inflating the salaries of the executives he represents.

In the past, lower-level executives typically negotiated their own deals unlike their bosses, who usually hired high-powered entertainment law firms and talent agencies to cut their compensation packages. Moir, who founded his company with his partner Lisa Marie, is seen as a buffer between his clients and their bosses.

Among the rising players he represents are Interscope President Tom Whalley, DreamWorks SKG executive Michael Goldstone, Geffen marketing head Robert Smith and Warner Records General Manager Jeff Gold.

“His ability has been to bridge the gap between the creative and business community,” said Lisbeth Barron, an analyst with Bear Stearns & Co. Inc. “He has a unique instinct of being able to sit in a room with a group of people and to identify the key elements of negotiation. You can’t learn this, he just has it.”

Moir, who has no formal legal or accounting background, got his start in the late 1970s when he worked in the A & R; division of Chrysalis Records. In 1984, he became a talent scout for MCA Records, but quit to manage record producers. Soon he was managing talent scouts and junior executives and negotiating salaries that put them closer to the big paychecks their bosses earned.

He also handles other types of dealings. For example, two months ago Moir negotiated the sale of Mammoth Records to Walt Disney Co. for $25 million.

Frank Swertlow