Hot on the heels of Atlantic’s red wedding on Friday, and with barely enough time for outgoing execs to clear out their desks and be hustled into the lifts, the Warner Music US division has - in an announcement replete with buzzwords - unveiled its new “dynamic leadership team and structure”, which will “maximise Atlantic Music Group’s cultural impact”.
That dynamic leadership team includes a whopping seventeen execs, with “more appointments regarding department heads” to be made “over the coming weeks”, so you might want to hold off updating your address book for a little while yet.
This is all, in case you’ve forgotten, part of WMG boss Robert Kyncl’s project in which he and his fellow execs have been “thoughtfully working on how to evolve” Atlantic, including a new “flatter” structure, of which recent announcements have been part.
In particular, the recent rejig means that labels and units with the Atlantic Music Group - Atlantic Records, 300 Entertainment, 10K Projects and Elektra, Fueled By Ramen and Roadrunner - will all have “one central set of artist development services”, with a number of functions being brought out of individual labels and supplied at a group level.
That includes creative, legal and business affairs, promotion, press and media strategy, digital marketing and analytics, sales and streaming and marketing operations, as well as A&R research and administration.
“This great label,” says new top dog Elliot Grainge, “has moved through a meaningful transition, and emerged with a world-class team, made up of ambitious innovators and veteran visionaries”. With alliteration like that, there’s surely huge hope for a fantastic future. Or, indeed, “a future filled with opportunity”, in the words of Grainge himself.
Today’s announcement sees a raft of new executive appointments - on which more shortly - and also marks the beginning of a new era, says the company, as “Julie Greenwald passes the torch” to Elliot Grainge, after two decades at the helm.
That elegantly skirts over the fact that just a couple of months ago everyone thought that Greenwald was going to be sticking around as part of a “leadership transition” which would see her move, snakes and ladders style, up down and across from “Chairman and CEO of Atlantic Music Group” and co-chair and COO of Atlantic Records to a “new role as Chairman, Atlantic Music Group”, a role that she’d apparently already held since October 2022.
That rejig cleared the way for Grainge to take the role of CEO of Atlantic Music Group, with Greenwald saying at the time, “I’m looking forward to working with him as we continue to place our artists and their music at the heart of this company”. Just a few days later though, after apparently being reminded by former boss Lyor Cohen that she was, in fact, “Julie Fucking Greenwald”, she decided that snakes and ladders wasn’t her thing, and quit entirely.
Now that the recent operatic drama is done and dusted - for the time being, at least - everyone can get back to work. A big part of that work will be doing “big, bold, brave things” in the new “lean, agile, fiercely creative and deeply passionate” hothouse of genius and creativity that is the fully reinvigorated, ready-for-anything Atlantic Music Group.
As part of that, “Elliot’s thoughtfully chose a team that combines a wealth of experience, a diversity of expertise and a commitment to excellence”, and has issued a laundry list of execs who have been upped to a raft of very impressive and important sounding job titles.
At Atlantic Records that includes Lanre Gaba, Lu Mota, Marsha St Hubert, Kevin Weaver, Brandon Davis, Jeff Levin and Marisa Aron, who are all now Executive Vice Presidents or Presidents. At 300 Entertainment, Rayna Bass and Selim Bouab become co-Presidents, with Nicholas Ziangas and Molly McLachlan getting the same title over at 10K Projects
At Atlantic Music Group, promotions include Craig Kallman, Zach Friedman, Tony Talamo, Erica Bellarosa and Dave Rocco. Gregg Nadel has also been appointed to a new role doing… something, though exactly what that is nobody quite knows, with today’s announcement saying simply that it will “be announced soon”.
To be fair, it must be pretty difficult coming up with 20 new and impressive job titles for people first thing on a Monday morning, so spare a thought for the poor HR intern sitting cranking them out.
Those fancy new job titles in full, from the announcement:
For Atlantic Records:
- Lanre Gaba is promoted to President of Hip-Hop, R&B, and Global Music. Lu Mota is EVP, Head of A&R, Hip-Hop, R&B, and Global Music and Marsha St. Hubert is EVP, Head of Marketing, Hip-Hop, R&B, and Global Music. They have supported and helped develop acclaimed artists such as Cardi B, Jack Harlow, Lil Uzi Vert, Burna Boy, and many others.
- Kevin Weaver is President, West Coast. The longtime Atlantic leader was most recently behind the record-breaking ‘Barbie The Album’, as well as the ‘Twisters’ soundtrack.
- In addition, Brandon Davis & Jeff Levin are EVPs and Co-Heads of A&R, Pop & Rock. Marisa Aron is promoted to EVP, Head of Marketing, Pop & Rock. The trio has managed a roster that includes Lizzo, Charli xcx, Charlie Puth, Ava Max, Melanie Martinez, and many others.
For 300 Entertainment:
- Rayna Bass & Selim Bouab are Co-Presidents. Under their guidance, 300 has supported marquee names including Young Thug, Mary J Blige and Gunna, among others.
For 10K Projects:
- Nicholas Ziangas and Molly McLachlan are promoted to Co-Presidents, having been instrumental with breakout stars like Artemas, Trippie Redd and Rich Amiri.
For Atlantic Music Group:
- Craig Kallman is elevated to Chief Music Officer, expanding his remit to bring his wealth of expertise to artists and projects across the group, while enabling him to mentor the next generation of executives.
- Zach Friedman and Tony Talamo are promoted to Chief Operating Officer and General Manager, respectively. Friedman and Talamo joined 10K Projects in 2018 and their company Homemade Projects was acquired in 2022.
- Erica Bellarosa is promoted to General Counsel, heading legal and business affairs efforts across the entire group.
- Dave Rocco is appointed President of Creative, with responsibilities spanning creative strategy, video, artwork, advertising and more. He most recently served as Chief Creative Officer at Republic Records and held the title of Global Head of Artist Marketing and Label Relations at Spotify.
More appointments regarding department heads will be made over the coming weeks. Gregg Nadel has been appointed to a new role within WMG’s Recorded Music division, to be announced soon.
