PEOPLE : A&M; President Friesen Resigns After 25 Years

Gil Friesen, president of A&M; Records, has resigned after a 25-year-long career at the label.

Sources at A&M; Records, which was purchased by Polygram Records for $500 million last October, said that Friesen resigned under pressure from A&M;’s board late last week.

The sources said A&M; founders and board members Jerry Moss and Herb Alpert had grown unhappy with Friesen’s performance.

However, in a statement released late Monday, board Chairman Moss, said: “Herb and I greatly value the immeasurable contributions made by Gil over the years and we wish him well with his new endeavors. We’re now looking forward to the new chapter and challenges that lie ahead.”

Friesen, who has been president of A&M; since 1977, could not be reached Monday, and a spokeswoman for the label said she did not know about Friesen’s plans.

In his statement, Moss said that he would assume the position of president of A&M; and take on the day-to-day duties of running the national and international business dealings of the label.

Founded in 1962 in trumpet player Alpert’s Fairfax District garage, A&M; last year had estimated annual sales of between $220 million and $300 million last year.

Although Hollywood-based A&M; had been one of the industry’s most consistently successful labels during the 25 years Friesen spent at A&M;, the company recently has encountered difficulty finding hot new talent at a time when prerecorded music sales are cooling off.

The company has just one release in the top 100, for instance--Janet Jackson’s “Rhythm Nation.”

And A&M; Records had such a bad year in 1989 that, before Jackson’s October release, A&M;’s biggest seller was a fluke No. 1 single by former soap opera star Michael Damian.

While new owner Polygram Records has not interfered with operations at A&M; thus far, sources said Moss and Alpert intervened before Polygram used slumping sales as an excuse to become more actively involved in the label’s management.