Warner Brothers is banking that celebrity gossiper Perez Hilton can do more than just scribble snarky comments over celebrity pictures on his blog. According to a New York Times article today, Hilton (a.k.a Mario Lavandeira) has been negotiating a deal with Warner Brothers Records that would provide him with his own imprint.  The parties are in the early stages of talks right now, anonymous sources told the Times, but Hilton could make $100,000 a year as an advance against 50 percent of any profits generated by any artists he discovers and releases through Warner Brothers. Hilton has always liked to share his passion for emerging/upcoming/relatively unkown artists on his site and told the Times that he "can't wait to do it on a larger level," and this wouldn't be a "vanity project."

"I'm really going to be actively involved in it," he said. [New York Times]