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Roadrunner Records founder departs, offices streamlined and staffers let go
By CMU Editorial | Published on Friday 27 April 2012
Warner Music owned metal label Roadrunner Records is being streamlined big time this week as the company’s founder, Cees Wessels, departs the company he founded in the Netherlands in 1980.
Warner took complete ownership of Roadrunner nearly eighteen months ago, but the company continued to run pretty autonomously. Under the latest revamp, most of the division’s back office operations will be taken over by the Warner group’s central teams, while – although Roadrunner’s A&R, marketing and promotions team will remain separate – there seems to be some downsizing going on there too.
Yesterday afternoon, as various Roadrunner staffers confirmed via Twitter or personal email lists that they’d been made redundant, there were rumours that only the Roadrunner US office would remain, with releases elsewhere being handled by Warner Music teams. However, sources close to the major have denied the cutbacks will be that extreme, with only original home The Netherlands losing its domestic Roadrunner office completely.
But, said sources added, 36 Roadrunner employees worldwide have been axed alongside Wessels’ departure this week, though no official statement has been made to that effect as yet.
