Having to say goodbye to talented colleagues is always difficult. I’m also acutely aware of how unsettling this can be. The leader of your division will either be holding a town hall or sending an email to explain more about this path forward. Every decision has been made thoughtfully by our operators around the world, who considered the specific needs, skills, and priorities of each label, division, and territory, in order to set us up for long-term success. I want to be clear that this is not a blanket cost-cutting exercise. We’re also reducing discretionary spending and open positions to provide us with additional flexibility for our future. At the same time, we’re reallocating resources towards new skills for artist and songwriter development and new tech initiatives. Consistent with this direction, we’ve made the tough decision to reduce our global team by approximately 270 people, or about 4%. In my discussions with our leaders across the company, many of them came to the same conclusion – that to take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us, we need to make some hard choices in order to evolve. WMG is positioning itself for this new phase of growth at the intersection of creativity and technology. The music business is filled with new possibilities: more fans are engaging with artists and songs than ever, our reach is enormous, and new business models are constantly emerging. It would appear that Wednesday’s announcement is one of the first such moves.Īs I mentioned at our first All-Hands meeting last month, I’m committed to direct and honest communication with all of you. While Kyncl has spoken broadly of the industry’s and the company’s needs to evolve in an ever-changing environment - the financial boom the music business has seen from streaming is leveling off, whether executives admit it or not - he has demurred from specifics, saying he needs to study the situation more thoroughly before making moves. His unexpected move into the top position at Warner ushers in a new type of tech-forward leadership at major labels. Kyncl for years had bridged the tech and entertainment worlds in major roles at Netflix - including overseeing the company’s shift to streaming - and YouTube, in which he was pivotal in repairing the streaming giant’s formerly contentious relationships with music companies. Kyncl was announced as the new CEO last September and in February took over for Steve Cooper, who left the company after 11 years. announced that Isabel Garvey – most recently managing director of Abbey Road Studios – will take up the newly created post of the division’s chief operating officer, reporting to CEO Tony Harlow it also announced that Jennifer Ivory, currently senior VP of Warner Records U.K., will take over as Parlophone’s managing director, with co-presidents Nick Burgess, Mark ‘Mitch’ Mitchell, and general manager Jack Melhuish exiting. It was not immediately clear which positions or divisions will be affected, but Kyncl says it comprises around 4% of the company’s global staff. Warner - which went public in 2020, nine years after being acquired by Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries - is the world’s third-largest music company and includes the labels Atlantic, Warner, 300-Elektra, Parlophone, the catalog division Rhino and others, as well as Warner Chappell Music publishing.
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