“Turn darkness into gold...”

EDITORIAL EDITOR-IN-CHIEF George Garner george.garner@futurenet.com DIGITAL EDITOR Andre Paine andre.paine@futurenet.com FEATURES EDITOR Ben Homewood ben.homewood@futurenet.com CONTENT EDITOR/PRODUCER Miranda Bardsley miranda.bardsley@futurenet.com ART EDITOR Steve Newman steve.newman@futurenet.com CHARTS & DATA Isabelle Nesmon isabelle.nesmon@futurenet.com

CONTRIBUTORS Yemi Abiade, Adenike Adenitire, Sammy Andrews, Koury Angelo, Calvin Ceile, Mark Davyd, Niall Doherty, Anna Fielding, Charlotte Gunn, James Hanley, Paul Harries, Colleen Harris, James Hickie, Alan Jones, Louise Haywood-Schiefer, Emmanuel Legrand, David McLaughlin, Paul Stokes, Jennyfer J. Walker, Carla Marie Williams, Paul Williams, Coral Williamson, Lisa Wright, Matt Yates COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING SALES DIRECTOR, MUSIC PORTFOLIO Lara Jaggon lara.jaggon@futurenet.com SENIOR EVENT MANAGER Madelene Andersson madelene.andersson@futurenet.com

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Welcome to

Music Week...

The more things change...

It was the month that sent group chats everywhere into meltdown. Hell, at times in July the music industry was reconfiguring itself with such breathtaking frequency I started to wonder whether any of it would still be recognisable by the time we hit August. In a normal month (remember them?) the election of, say, a new government would have dominated music industry discourse. Not in July. Not with Hipgnosis Song Management founder and chairman Merck Mercuriadis giving notice of his intention to step away as chairman on the second day of the month. And this was just for starters in the 31 days that shook the industry to its core, with news of everything from the tragic passing of beloved SJM promoter Chris York, to Kobalt’s head of global creative, Alison Donald, leaving the company after a seven-year tenure and the Mercury Prize announcing its return for 2024, albeit without a public ceremony. And who could forget July 9? That was the date Universal revealed “the next phase of the company’s growth” by completely reshaping its frontline label operations, with Island and EMI merging to create Island EMI Label Group, and the newly formed Polydor Label Group incorporating a “reimagined” Capitol and 0207 Def Jam. This, too, was coupled with the launch of a fascinating industry-first: a new Audience & Media Division with the multiple Music Week Award-winning Rebecca Allen as its president. All eyes now turn to October 1, when the new structure will take effect. Universal’s structural evolution very much set the tone for much of what followed elsewhere. On July 25, Mushroom Group CEO Matt Gudinski revealed the “most significant change” to the company’s rights division in more than two decades – with the Australian independent giant consolidating its recording, publishing and neighbouring rights divisions to form a single operation, Mushroom Music. On July 31, meanwhile, a meeting of music representatives organised by the Department For Culture, Media And Sport took place to explore industry-led action around earnings from streaming. With hindsight, it was incredibly naive of me to think the following month might prove to be somewhat quieter for big news... On the first day of August came the headline: ‘Warner Music Group reveals huge reorganisation of recorded music operations, Max Lousada steps down’. So it is that WMG will proceed without the roles of CEO, recorded music or president, international, recorded music, instead opting for a new “flatter structure” which will aim to “elevate creative regional leadership”. Warner’s UK & Ireland group is now part of its European operations, while Julie Greenwald will take on a new role as chairman, Atlantic Music Group, and Elliot Grainge, 10K Projects founder & CEO, is now CEO of Atlantic Music Group, with both reporting to Robert Kyncl, WMG CEO. Things are about to get very, very interesting. The playing field and the players are changing. And fast. That said, with the Strat Award-winning Max Lousada saying “the music business has always been about evolution, and the time has come for me to build something new”, you can be sure it won’t be the last we hear from the highly-respected executive. Watch this space.

George Garner, Editor-In-Chief

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