TORONTO (CelebrityAccess) – Former Canadian music industry executive Arnold Gosewich passed away in Toronto Sunday (Oct. 20).
Born in Ottawa, Ontario, Gosewich began his career in the music business in 1957 when he and lifelong friend and fellow music executive Harvey Glatt opened up the first of 15 Treble Clef music stores across the Ottawa area. Gosewich soon exited the company to join competitor Alex Sherman’s ever-expanding Sherman’s Records’ chain, eventually becoming a minority owner in the business, which was sold to Capitol Records in the late 1960s.
In 1969, Gosewich became president of Capitol Records (of Canada Ltd). During his tenure with the label, he helped to launch the careers of major artists including Anne Murray (“Snowbird”), Edward Bear, Gene McLellan, Sugar Shoppe, Pierre Lalonde and Beau Dommage, as well as distributed acts such as A Foot In Coldwater, Fludd, Rush and April Wine.
Later, in 1977, he became president of CBS Canada (now Sony Music). After five years with the label, he resigned in 1982.
During his time with Capitol and CBS, Gosewich also served as president of the Canadian Recording Industry Association (now Music Canada), and as a director of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and the Ontario Film Development Corporation. In 1973, he received the Juno Award for Music Industry Man of the Year.
After exiting the music business, Gosewich managed to parlay his previous executive experience into a successful career in the book publishing industry, where he served first as president of Macmillan of Canada and later as a literary agent and book publishing consultant.
Gosewich is served by his wife Jackie.
He was 84-years-old.
