Clive Davis visits namesake dept.

Record producer Clive Davis spoke to NYU students for the first time yesterday at an event organized by his namesake department, the Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music.

Interviewed by Billboard magazine's editorial director, Bill Werde, Davis provided insight into his success and offered tips for aspiring producers.

Davis helped jump-start the careers of Whitney Houston, Aerosmith and Alicia Keys, among others. He is currently Sony Music's chief creative officer.

Werde noted that Davis had a knack for making hits out of a wide range of musical talents and genres as president of Columbia Records from 1967 to 1972. Davis said he changed Columbia's direction by making it more diverse.

"Each area was important. I learned not to specialize and to take music as it is," Davis said.

Davis also emphasized the importance of "honest development" — marketing talent appropriately without damaging credibility. For example, Davis said he was worried about letting Houston appear on Oprah Winfrey's show to speak about substance abuse, which he believed would have damaged her image, even if it provided her a temporary surge in popularity.

Additionally, Davis gave words of advice for up-and-coming music entrepreneurs.

"One, you need artists that are headliners, and two, the executive must be above the rest of the competition for his artist," Davis said.

Though Tisch professor Kobi Wu-Pasmore's class, "Curating Live Music Events," helped to bring Davis to NYU, the event's principle organizers were Sound CTRL co-founder Jesse Kirshbaum and Jason King, artistic director of the Clive Davis Department.

For Kirshbaum, having Davis speak to "a music and technology community" was the only way to go.

Esther Tran-Le is a staff writer.