Perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s been announced that Andria Vidler will leave the Parlophone Label Group once its sale to Warner Music is completed later this year.
Vidler joined EMI from Bauer Media in 2009 to run its UK and Ireland operations, and remained with the major through the turbulent years that followed, staying within the PLG business – the bit of the EMI record company that didn’t merge with Universal – after the UK-based record company was swallowed up by its mega-major rival last year.
Former EMI exec David Kassler, who has been CEO of the PLG while it has operated as a standalone unit, confirmed in a staff memo yesterday that Vidler will depart once Warner’s acquisition is completed. Kassler himself will also depart once Parlophone becomes a Warner division, something he confirmed last month.
Paying tribute to his colleague, Kassler said in the memo: “I know that all of you will want to join me in thanking Andria for all that she has achieved in her time with the company and for the commitment and enthusiasm she has shown in her work. The PLG family, artists and managers will greatly miss her, but I am sure I speak for us all when I say we wish her all the very best as she moves into the next stage of her career”.
As previously reported, Warner agreed to acquire most of the EMI assets Universal was forced to sell by competition regulators in February. That deal got European Union approval last month.