Warner Music has announced that Alejandro Duque, currently President of Warner Music Latin America, will expand his role at the major by taking on a second job as President of distribution and label services division ADA.
It follows the news yesterday that existing ADA President Cat Kreidich is standing down. Duque taking on two roles within Warner follows the recent news that the company is looking to save $300 million a year, with $170 million coming from job cuts, as part of CEO Robert Kyncl’s ongoing bid to “future-proof the company and unlock the next era of growth”.
Of the new appointment, Kyncl says: “Alejandro’s leadership will help us differentiate ADA - providing independent labels and artists with opportunities at a speed and scale they won’t find anywhere else”.
In order to achieve that, the plan seems to be for ADA to work more closely with the rest of Warner moving forward. And while merging the ADA President role with Duque’s existing role will presumably save money, it should help with that closer integration too.
Duque “has a proven track record of supporting the indie community”, Kyncl adds, as well as “a deep understanding of WMG’s reach and resources as catalysts for global superstardom”. That combination, we are told, “is going to bring down barriers for ADA’s clients, plugging them more directly into our infrastructure and empowering them to build their businesses”.
Kreidich announced her departure from Warner in a memo yesterday, saying “After four transformative years proving that Warner Music Group and ADA can truly be the best home for independent artists and labels, I have made the decision to leave the company”. Kyncl also thanked the departing ADA boss, who he dubbed “a bold thinker and decisive leader”.
All three major record companies have sought to grow their distribution and services divisions, of course, so that they have control over the distribution of music released by a portion of the independent sector as well as their own frontline and catalogue labels.
Sony Music is the biggest in this domain via The Orchard and AWAL, which together represent an extensive distribution business that was built during a period of aggressive acquisition. Currently it’s Universal Music that is buying up indie distributors to expand its distribution power. But for Warner and ADA, Kreidich says in her parting missive, the aim was always quality over quantity.
Looking back at what was her second stint with the distribution business, she added, “We didn't aspire to be the biggest distribution company, but rather the most valuable - valuable to our artist and label partners by offering expert guidance and measurable results, and valuable to Warner Music Group by helping build its ecosystem and reputation for supporting independent artists”.
But of course, none of that means that Kreidich wasn't looking to grow the ADA business while in charge, and growth is definitely high up on Duque’s agenda.
Commenting on his new role, he says, “We’re committed to growing our distribution business and enhancing the ADA brand, through a combination of excellent service, flexible deal-making and tech innovation. We’ve done this successfully in Latin America, and now we’re taking that holistic approach to the entire business by integrating our independent distribution strategy even more tightly with our teams in the US and around the world”.