A&M/Octone Launched

Interscope/Geffen/A&M announced February 20th it will merge A&M with New York-based Octone Records, home of Maroon 5 and Flyleaf.

A&M/Octone will be headed by James Diener, former president of Octone and Sr. VP of A&R/marketing for J Records and The RCA Music Group. Octone GM David Boxenbaum is along for the ride as is executive VP Ben Barkman.

A&M/Octone will acquire Sony BMG’s interest in OctJay, a joint venture between SonyBMG and Octone Records. The A&M roster remains unchanged.

The new label’s first release is expected to be the long-awaited follow-up to Maroon 5’s debut album, Songs About Jane.