COMPANY TOWN ANNEX

Yetnikoff Launches Record Label: Former CBS Records head Walter Yetnikoff has reemerged after a six-year hibernation to launch VelVel Records, a joint venture with Navarre Corp., a New York-based music and computer software distribution company. Yetnikoff has been working on raising money for an entertainment company since 1993 and last year was reportedly in negotiations to form a new label with movie producer Jon Peters. That deal did not materialize. Under the Navarre pact, Yetnikoff has already signed several fledgling rock acts and cut distribution deals with tiny independents Bottom Line Records and Razor & Tie Records. Yetnikoff, who worked with Michael Jackson and Bruce Springsteen as chief of CBS Records, resigned his post two years after Japanese conglomerate Sony Corp. purchased the label.