Seems like everybody in NYC is losing his/her job. Knicks coach Don Cheney was ousted, and yesterday NJ/Brooklyn Nets coach Byron Scott got canned. Last week, Arista head honcho LA Reid was fired. Today's NY Times covers Reid's departure and a general feeling in the industry that if a hit-maker like Reid got fired, no job was safe.

The article claims that an executive with knowledge of the situation said Arista had racked up $200 million in operating losses in the last two years. Hello? Is Arista Kozmo.com or something? Whether or not a guy can create hits is irrelevant if his company doesn't know a debit from a credit. Record labels are businesses, after all. Having platinum records hanging on the office walls is nice and definitely earns a lot of bragging rights, and every label loves to point to the Billboard charts as a sign of its success, but success is ultimately measured in profit and loss.

Reid had a few hits during his Arista tenure: Avril Lavigne, Pink and Dido--though Coolfer thinks Eminem did more for Dido's career than Reid.

But what about his failures? Record labels don't hesitate to celebrate their few successes but grow silent about their many failed projects. Whitney Houston's albatross of a contract that was guessed to be around $100 million. That's a lot of crack. Pink's latest album is fading quickly. Spiritualized has released great albums that have sold next to nothing. Carlos Santana's latest album died a quick death. Lady May and Pacifier aren't exactly the backbone of Arista's roster.

It's all about the black and red...unless you're Usher, in which it's all about the black and white. Usher pulled out the race card when he said, "I knew they wouldn't leave a black man in that position forever."