accessible to both Urban and Top 40 radio formats. Reid signed 14-year-old Usher to the label, whose six album releases have sold 65 million units worldwide. Other popular acts on the label during its peak include Toni Braxton, TLC, and Outkast. Both TLC and Toni Braxton went on to sell more than 65 million records each. Initially headquartered in Atlanta, the label played a significant role in developing the city's music industry. Hitco Publishing Group Reid formed the Hitco Publishing Group in 1996, as a joint venture with Windswept Music. While starting up Hitco, Reid, looking to connect to a new market of producers, songwriters and talent, hired Shakir Stewart whom he saw as someone with "a finger on the pulse of the next generation of hot producers in the Atlanta music scene". Shakir's first job in the music industry was as a creative executive at Hitco; he went on to become a senior vice president at Island Def Jam Music Group. In May 2000, Edmonds and Reid sold their remaining 50% stake in LaFace to parent company BMG. The label became an imprint of Arista Records, with Arista taking on sales, marketing, and promotional duties for its acts. At this time, Reid also succeeded Clive Davis as president of Arista Records. In 2000, LaFace was merged into Arista Records with Reid being promoted to president and CEO of Arista Records. In 1997 Reid attended the Harvard Business School six-week Advanced Management Program, in preparation to become CEO of Arista Records. In 2000, Reid signed his first unknown artists, Latin rapper Havana Mena and pop/rocker Avril Lavigne, to Arista. Avril Lavigne's debut album Let Go sold 6 million copies in the United States. As president of Arista Records, Reid signed artists such as Pink (whose November 2001 album Missundaztood sold 5 million copies in the US) and Ciara (whose September 2004 debut album Goodies sold 2.5 million copies in the US). Under Reid's tenure at Arista, Usher (whom Reid originally signed at LaFace) completed production on his multi-platinum hit 2004 album Confessions, which went on to spawn four No. 1 hit singles and sell 10 million copies in the United States alone. Outkast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below sold more than 10 million copies and won a Grammy Award for Album of the year. 2004–2012: Island Def Jam Music Group and The X Factor Following the merger of Sony and BMG, L.A.