Clive Davis is one of those legendary music industry executives who, like some of the artists he has nurtured, is known by just one name, like Miles, Whitney or Santana.

But even legends have off days. Davis, most recently CEO of BMG Label Group - has been bumped up, pushed sideways, demoted, depending on your view - to the position of Chief Creative Officer for Sony BMG Worldwide, the label’s parent company.

Most media outlets and blogs are reading this as a demotion of sorts for the great man, who shaped the careers of acts from Janis Joplin to Alicia Keys.

Writers point to the departure of Davis’ long-time right-hand man Charles Goldstuck, who was president of BMG, as a sign that an era of ‘regime change’ is sweeping through 550 Madison Avenue.

In the meantime Barry Weiss, a long-time Zomba label exec, will fill Davis’ shoes. He most recently has overseen the careers of Justin Timberlake, Britney Spears and R. Kelly.

But skeptics shouldn’t be too quick to write off the 76-year old, the Wall Street Journal says, reminding readers that King Clive has made more successful comebacks than anyone in music.

(Photo: Reuters)

Google suprised the market with better than expected quarterly results despite worries that it was being hit by economic weakness after comScore data showed it having trouble converting Web search into ad viewer. Google CEO Eric Schmidt even went as far as to say the company would still perform well for the whole year ”regardless of the business environment.” For investors, the results wiped away fears that Google was just as vulnerable as any company to recession fears and, as of this morning, company shares were up more than $80.

Some analysts noted that Google growth slowed from the previous quarter and that the good results did not completely eliminate concerns about its prospects (New York Times) . While Lehman and Merrill Lynch rushed to see who could raise their price targets for Google higher, shares of comScore quietly fell 8 percent. 

Schmidt gave less satisfaction in his comments on the company’s dealings with arch-rival Yahoo, but his tone was sweet: “It’s nice working with Yahoo and we like them very much.”

Keep an eye on:

•  Sam Zell eyes Chicago Cubs sale, undecided on Newsday fate (Reuters)
•  CW to pull free Internet streams for new “Gossip Girl” episodes, says watch it on televsion  (LA Times)
• Viewers are not rushing back to their favorite TV Programs (Advertising Age)
• Sony-BMG Reshuffles, gives legend Clive Davis a new title — and may be showing him the door. (Silicon Alley Insider)

(Photo: Reuters)