Sony BMG Said to Pick COO

Sony BMG Music Entertainment is expected to name Tim Bowen as chief operating officer, part of an effort to help heal a rift at the joint venture of Japan’s Sony Corp. and Germany’s Bertelsmann, said sources within the company who did not want to be identified as negotiations were underway.

Bowen, who currently oversees much of Sony BMG’s non-U.S. operations, would succeed Michael Smellie, whose departure last year set off a power struggle at the company.

After Smellie left, Bertelsmann pushed for the removal of Sony BMG Chief Executive Andrew Lack.

As part of a new structure, Lack is expected to become Sony BMG’s nonexecutive chairman. Current Chairman Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, who is affiliated with Bertelsmann, is expected to assume the CEO post.

Bowen worked at both BMG and Sony Music before the music divisions merged in 2004. He has worked closely with Schmidt-Holtz, who hired him before the merger and worked with him on alliances that spawned the hit television show “American Idol.”

Other executives affiliated with Sony Music said Lack also had a good relationship with Bowen.