Reid May Join Def Jam Today

Antonio “L.A.” Reid, the Grammy-winning producer who developed such acts as Outkast before losing his job running Arista Records last month, will be named chairman of the rival Island Def Jam label today, sources said.

The move, which had been expected, comes less than four weeks after Bertelsmann Music Group ousted Reid in the first step of a reorganization that also has put his predecessor, industry veteran Clive Davis, back in charge of the Arista label he founded and ran for 25 years.

Sources said Reid was signing a multimillion-dollar, four-year deal to run the Island Def Jam complex, a unit of Vivendi Universal and home to such stars as DMX and Mariah Carey.

Reid, a musician who started out making hits for such acts as Bobby Brown and Paula Abdul, is still trying to sort out the structure of his management team.

Kevin Liles, who had been president of the label’s Def Jam unit, resigned last week and has been in talks with rivals, including Davis. It was unclear whether Reid would replace Liles, though some insiders were pushing for promotion executive Benny Pough to take on expanded duties. Julie Greenwald, who heads the Island division, also has a contract up for renewal and has an offer from Universal to stay on, sources said.

Reid could not be reached for comment. Universal declined to comment.