Riding Titanic wave to success at Sony.(Sony Music Entertainment Inc.'s Tommy D. Mottola)

Crain's New York Business, May, 1998 by Block, Valerie

Mottola soundtrack bet vaults company to top; years of nurturing artists pay off for Bronx native When the Titanic soundtrack was being shopped to distributors, nearly every record label sneered at the hybrid classical and pop score. The reaction was a little different at Sony Music Entertainment Inc., whose top artist.

Celine Dion, performed the theme song. After a private screening of the film, Sony Music chief Tommy D. Mottola sealed the deal with an $800,000 bid. He brought out the soundtrack on the Sony Classical label and rushed through a new album of Ms. Dion's on the company's 550 Music imprint, prominently featuring a version of "My Heart Will Go On." It was an expensive gamble, one instantly derided in the business. Those in the know expected the film to...

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