CAMI-kaze?

“The halls of CAMI are not a happy place right now,” an insider informs La Cieca, and according to information received by parterre.com more than half a dozen long-time Columbia Artists Management personnel have not had their contracts renewed in recent weeks.

The most prominent name among these is legendary artists manager Ken Benson, a fixture at CAMI for a quarter of a century.

Benson’s associate Robert Scott is also leaving the agency. Some of the artists they managed are being shifted to other CAMI managers, but La Cieca hears that at least one of their roster has already signed with another agency. Meanwhile, La Cieca hears, Director of Vocal Divisions Matthew Epstein has been tasked with “holding the biggest commission makers to their contracts.”

“After the evisceration of the vocal roster by [Alec] Treuhaft and [Jeffrey] Vanderveen when they fled for IMG” a decade ago and the “decampment” of Bruce Zemsky and Alan Green in 2005, our source laments that the top-heavy Vocal Division at CAMI is now being slammed harder than most agencies by the recession.