Lyor in WSJ

THE FREEWHEELING LYOR COHEN: In his Wall Street Journal story on Cohen’s departure, media reporter Ethan Smith colorfully described the 52-year-old veteran as “a holdover from a more freewheeling era in the industry [who made] made an unlikely choice for a high-level corporate role at Warner, since his proven strengths were in handling talent and the hand-to-hand combat of the industry, not in boardroom politics. Raised in Los Angeles, Cohen has always cut an unlikely figure: A tall, gangly white man with blue eyes who favors business suits and peppers his speech with rap slang… Like many veterans of the music industry's pre-digital heyday, Cohen considered some aspects of a music executive's role to be ineffable arts, such as handling high-strung artists, or identifying talent. By contrast, people who have worked with Cooper describe him as a no-nonsense executive who considers the bottom line the ultimate arbiter of most decisions.” (9/25a)