Simply over 12 months in the past, Robert Kyncl formally grew to become CEO of Warner Music Group.
Inside 4 weeks, he’d delivered his first handle to traders on a WMG earnings name, setting out an agenda that took within the threats/alternatives introduced by AI, plus streaming pricing, and his plan for Warner to “thoughtfully relocate assets to speed up our expertise investments”.
Trying on the extra seen music biz faces inside Kyncl’s management workforce since he began his tenure, you could be forgiven for pondering that the previous YouTube exec hasn’t made sweeping adjustments to WMG’s top-tier personnel.
In spite of everything, the leaders of WMG’s world recorded music division (Max Lousada) and its world publishing division (Man Moot and Carianne Marshall) stay unchanged. (In a course of pushed by Kyncl, each Moot and Marshall formally inked new multi-year offers with Warner in September; Lousada is himself rumored to have re-upped in the direction of the top of 2023.)
Additionally unchanged: The leaders of Warner’s flagship frontline file divisions within the US, together with Atlantic Information (Julie Greenwald and Craig Kallman), 300 Elektra Leisure (Kevin Liles), Warner Bros Information (Aaron Bay-Schuck and Tom Corson), and ADA (Cat Kreidich).
But a full rundown of WMG’s central management workforce on the corporate’s investor-facing website exhibits a distinct facet to this story – one which has seen Kyncl quietly rework his C-suite since turning into boss of Warner.
The final 12 months have seen the exit of a spread of C-suite and upper-level execs from Warner, together with its (former) Chief Digital Officer, Chief Monetary Officer, Chief Information Officer, and World Head of DEI.
Kyncl has changed these departees with a spread of high-caliber executives, notably drawn from exterior of music rights – bringing with them the promise of recent concepts.
Just a few of those new faces have come from Kyncl’s former employer, Google/YouTube, however others have been handpicked from additional afield, together with Disney, Instacart, Mastercard, and Justworks.
Who’s Robert Kyncl employed?
Official bulletins of latest management arrivals at WMG, every employed by Kyncl, have included:
- Tim Matusch, EVP, Technique and Operations, WMG (introduced: January 2023; beforehand labored at YouTube, BCG)
- Ariel Bardin, President of Know-how, WMG (introduced: February 2023; beforehand labored at Celonis, Instacart, Google)
- Bryan Castellani, EVP & CFO, WMG (introduced: September 2023; beforehand labored at Disney, ESPN)
- Carletta Higginson, EVP & Chief Digital Officer, WMG (introduced: October 2023; beforehand labored at Google, Jenner & Block LLP, Pryor Cashman Sherman & Flynn LLP)
Digging round on LinkedIn this afternoon, MBW has found a number of different fascinating hires now working with/round Warner’s CEO. They embody Vik Gupta (EVP, Engineering & Information Science, WMG; beforehand labored at Instacart, Google); Peter Lee (Chief of Workers to the CEO, WMG; beforehand labored at: YouTube, Google); Yrthya Dinzey-Flores (SVP of Variety, Fairness & Inclusion, WMG; beforehand labored at: Justworks, Open Society Foundations, Time Warner Inc.); and Olga LaBelle (Head of ESG, WMG; beforehand labored at: Mastercard, BCG);
As well as, Kyncl’s affect – and his keenness to outline Warner on the “intersection of music and expertise” – has seemingly been felt on current worldwide hires comparable to Dinesh Ratnam, MD of Warner Music Malaysia (previously at video streaming platform, iQiyi) plus Arica Ng, President of Warner Chappell Asia Pacific (previously a member of Meta’s music workforce).
Plus we’ve seen the acqui-hire of Elliot Grainge and the 10K Tasks workforce, successfully bringing a wholly new frontline label into the WMG fold.
Who’s departed?
Naturally, as talked about, Kyncl has additionally mentioned goodbye to a few of the most senior workforce members employed by his predecessor – Steve Cooper – at Warner.
Since Kyncl began out as CEO, Warner has parted methods with at the very least the next:
- Eric Levin, Chief Monetary Officer (retirement introduced: September 2023)
- Oana Ruxandra, Chief Digital Officer (exit introduced: October 2023)
- Dr. Maurice A. Stinnett, Head of Variety, Fairness & Inclusion (exit confirmed: January 2024)
- Moin Haque, Chief Information Officer (exit confirmed: 2023)
Actually, wanting on the WMG investor website as soon as extra, it seems that solely three central purposeful heads on the agency (i.e. exterior of labels and particular positions) – Chief Individuals Officer, Common Counsel, and Chief Communications Officer – stay unchanged since Kyncl was appointed CEO.
Sources at Warner have advised MBW that Kyncl additionally “centralized” some key company help features on the firm in 2023 – for instance, unifying WMG’s worldwide expertise and finance groups in order that they every now have one world chief.
In a brand new yr memo issued to employees earlier this month, Kyncl known as 2024 “The 12 months of the Subsequent 10” – a reference to the significance of the upcoming 12 months in defining the last decade forward.
“As we begin the brand new yr, one factor I’d like us all to recollect is that our world has basically modified … the music enterprise is in a really totally different place than it was ten years in the past,” he wrote.
“Now, we’re ready of energy. That’s the time to get forward for the long run.”
It seems this philosophy has already been prolonged to the trusted coterie of advisors who now encompass Warner Music Group’s CEO.Music Enterprise Worldwide
