GREATGOLD NEWS – SAM HOLDSWORTH, former editor-in-chief and publisher of media, music, radio, and entertainment industry news and information publisher, Billboard, died May 18 at 72 of a heart attack. Holdsworth, who was also co-founder of Musician magazine, was part of a consortium that bought Billboard Publications Inc. (BPI) in 1984 from the Littleford family in a move that led him to become Billboard’s publisher.
BILLBOARD REPORTS that the consortium was helmed by investor Boston Ventures and an internal BPI management group fronted by Holdsworth and Jerry Hobbs in a move that was seen as a non-disruptive way to keep BPI – which included Billboard, Musician and Amusement Business, among other titles – intact.
HOBBS, who had served as executive vp of BPI and Billboard’s publisher, became president/CEO of the new entity, while Holdsworth became publisher of Billboard and then publisher/editor-in-chief. BPI had purchased Musician in 1981, which brought Holdsworth into the company, according to Billboard.
