Record Label Trims Staff

Atlantic Records, home to such top-selling acts as Hootie & the Blowfish, issued pink slips to nearly three dozen employees in its New York headquarters this week, sources said.

The long-expected move to downsize was implemented primarily to cut costs. Although the New York-based label finished 1995 at No. 1 in U.S. market share, layoffs have been rumored since last summer, when a series of management shake-ups rocked Atlantic’s parent company, Time Warner Inc.