Atlantic Music Group
Alana Dolgin has joined Atlantic Music Group as the label’s first president of digital marketing, a position created to drive digital strategies across the labels within the company, including Atlantic Records, 300 Entertainment and 10K Projects. Dolgin, who is based in AMG’s Los Angeles office, reports to chief operating officer Zach Friedman and general manager […]
Julie Greenwald, the longtime co-leader of Atlantic Records who has become synonymous with the iconic label over the past 20 years, penned an exit letter to the Atlantic staff ahead of her departure from the label. Greenwald’s last day as chair/CEO of Atlantic Music Group will be Sept. 30; she will remain as a consultant through January.
“I’ve been thinking about this goodbye letter for the past few weeks,” Greenwald wrote. “For someone who is never short on words, this one has been a real challenge.”
Greenwald, one of the top leaders in the business overall in the past three decades, became president of Atlantic in 2004, before becoming co-chair/COO in 2006, alongside co-chair/CEO Craig Kallman and chairman/CEO of Atlantic Music Group in 2022. Greenwald and Kallman led the label through a dynamic period in which they helped break superstars such as Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Coldplay, Kelly Clarkson, Cardi B, Foster the People, Charli XCX, Charlie Puth, Lizzo, James Blunt, Portugal The Man, Twenty One Pilots, Panic! At the Disco, Kehlani, Ty Dolla Sign and more. She has built a reputation not just for being beloved by artists, but for being beloved by her staff and as a key mentor in the industry, particularly for rising women executives. She was named Executive of the Year at Billboard’s Women in Music event in 2017, and a fixture on the Power 100 each year.
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Greenwald’s exit is part of the larger overhaul of the Warner Music Group that WMG CEO Robert Kyncl announced in August, which will see her and many of her top Atlantic executives exit the company as Elliot Grainge prepares to take over as Atlantic Music Group CEO on Oct. 1.
Read Greenwald’s full letter below.
To All My Friends, Family and Colleagues,
I’ve been thinking about this goodbye letter for the past few weeks.
For someone who is never short on words, this one has been a real challenge.
I came into Atlantic Records 9 months pregnant with a mission on my back to rebuild the house that Ahmet created.
Lucky for me, I found a partner ready to roll up his sleeves and start something new.
Craig and I were in lock step, sharing one vision, not to be the biggest company in the industry, but to be the best.
We wanted to create a risk taking culture that rewarded creativity.
For all of the old crew, remember our magic number was 34 albums a year. And our strategy worked.
We signed, nurtured and delivered some of the greatest artists on the planet. No matter how long the single took, or how many mixtapes or albums, we stayed in the fight. The weirder the marketing plan, the better.
Our goal wasn’t simply a plaque, but selling lots and lots and lots of hard tickets.
MSG was first in our sights and then came the O2.
World building wasn’t a buzz word we threw out in pitch meetings, but a true accomplishment.
I subscribe all of our successes to the perfect melding of extraordinary artists meet the most gifted employees.
For everyone who has passed through Atlantic High, Elektra, FBR, Roadrunner, 300 and WMG, I can not say thank you enough.
(And when I see you in person, I will properly do so.)
To Lyor, Steve, and Max, I am filled with tremendous gratitude for all the support and generosity you gave us throughout our years.
It was always a team effort.
To my day one partners Craig, Kyser and Sheila, I will be eternally grateful for one of the greatest rides in the history of the music business.
To Len, Robert, Elliot, Zach and Tony, I’m handing over the keys to Ahmet’s house. I wish you all the best and will remain the greatest cheerleader for all things Atlantic.
And to all my artists, I will never stop being your #1 Fan.
Love,
Julie
McHale’s Bar & Grill, a pub in midtown Manhattan, bills itself as “the best Irish bar in NYC.” It opens bright and early, at 10 a.m. on weekdays; it also happens to be right around the corner from Warner Music Group’s New York office. And on Thursday (Sept. 19), it was crammed full of Atlantic Music Group employees gathering to honor colleagues who had been laid off earlier that day. Several staffers clambered onto chairs to deliver spontaneous speeches about their time at the storied label.
McHale’s “is the only thing open during the day in that area,” says one employee who survived the cuts. At the impromptu gathering, “Lots of people who have been at Atlantic for 10- or 20-plus years said they loved being able to work with everyone. People were feeling supported since a lot of staff had been let go” — around 150 layoffs in total, according to WMG’s SEC filing.
Multiple sources stress that these departures, as well as the new regime being put in place by incoming Atlantic Music Group CEO Elliot Grainge, represent a seismic shift for Atlantic — a generational changing of the guard. A number of high-profile executives will be leaving the company, including Atlantic Music Group CEO Julie Greenwald, who co-led Atlantic for nearly 20 years; WMG’s CEO of recorded music Max Lousada, who had been at WMG for decades; 300 Elektra Entertainment chairman/CEO Kevin Liles; Atlantic general manager Paul Sinclair; and Atlantic co-president of Black music Michael Kyser, along with several department heads at both Atlantic and Elektra Records.
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In the wake of the cuts, sources say the Elektra side of 300 Elektra Entertainment is down to fewer than 20 people; Warner announced that 3EE president Gregg Nadel will move to become co-chair of Warner Music Nashville, but did not mention a replacement. (Lousada and Liles will also not be replaced.) Atlantic made further cuts to its radio team, which now has fewer than 10 employees, having already been hit in previous waves of layoffs. The label slashed the publicity department to just a handful of people.
In addition, Atlantic and Elektra eliminated their touring teams, which help artists with promotion and production on the road. The creative departments of Atlantic and 300 — the staffers who help furnish artists with the content they need in a visual, social media-driven age — suffered losses as well. And the label cut some A&R executives.
All these vanished jobs are the latest sign that the definition of a major label is transforming rapidly. “The old advantages that a big label had in the past, radio and press and TV, those just aren’t as powerful as they were,” says Jonathan Daniel, a veteran artist manager. The industry is trying to “remodel what a major label is, because the old way is unsustainable at this point.”
That retooling process has led to a number of layoffs at both WMG and Universal Music Group over the last 18 months. (Cuts at Sony Music have been more moderate, sources have said, at least so far.) Executives in traditional departments, like radio and press, have been especially vulnerable. And companies have tried to reduce overlapping roles at frontline labels in favor of a shared central system of services.
Grainge, 30, has expressed disdain for the more sprawling, old-fashioned major label model in the past. In 2016, he founded the label 10K Projects, which has billed itself almost as an anti-major: Small and fleet-footed instead of large and lumbering, with a heavy focus on modern tools (digital marketing) at the expense of more old-fashioned ones (radio). He has had success with this approach, helping boost the early careers of artists like Ice Spice, XXXTentacion and Trippie Redd.
Several Atlantic staffers started to worry about the possibility of additional staff cuts in August, as soon as WMG unexpectedly announced that Grainge would replace Greenwald starting October 1. In the past, major leadership changes at labels have often been accompanied by layoffs. Roughly 20 years ago, for example, not long after Lyor Cohen took over as chairman/CEO of WMG, the company let go of around 1,000 employees.
That said, the record business was shrinking then, rather than growing. And WMG had already made three rounds of cuts in the past 19 months before last week’s layoffs.
Some executives believe that Atlantic Music Group, which has struggled to produce new breakout artists in the last two years, was still too big and too inefficient, even after the previous reductions in staff. It’s nearly impossible to turn a massive ship quickly, and speed is crucial in what WMG CEO Robert Kyncl recently called a “fast-paced, fiercely competitive industry.”
The company’s realignment is intended to strengthen the core Atlantic Music Group structure while also making it more flexible, so it can throw its full weight behind artists at Atlantic, 300 or Elektra at any given time, sources say. “Elliot is confident in the team he’s put in place and they’re all focused on moving the needle,” a source inside WMG tells Billboard. The mission, this person continues, is focusing on “artists, artist development, great music. With all the anxiety about changes, there is excitement about the future, too.”
But others wonder if deep cuts will ultimately affect a label’s ability to deliver on behalf of its artists. “They’re smart people; obviously there’s some sort of plan” with the restructure and the layoffs, says Motti Shulman, who exited his role as senior vp of rhythm promotion at 300 Elektra Entertainment in 2023. “But if you keep cutting the fat, at some point you dig into the muscle. I think they’ve gone beyond the fat.”
Earlier this month, WMG employees say Grainge spent time in the company’s Los Angeles and New York offices along with Zach Friedman and Tony Talamo, who are set to become chief operating officer and general manager of Atlantic Music Group, respectively. Several Atlantic staffers believed that the incoming leadership was evaluating their work and weighing who might be cut.
When layoffs began in New York last Thursday, a number of employees were told they were being let go in individual meetings with Greenwald — who had, in many cases, played an instrumental role in hiring them, sometimes decades ago. Some staffers started to call the artists they had collaborated with to notify them that they had been laid off. Others updated their LinkedIn profiles: #OpenToWork.
Historically, when labels cut a lot of employees — as Universal Music group did in 1999, and WMG did in 2004 — they often trim artist rosters as well. Specific employees often champion specific artists in the building; if those cheerleaders are gone, the label may in turn sever ties with the acts they cheered for. On top of that, remaining staff might be spread too thin to aid as many acts as it did previously. Many managers are still waiting to hear if their artists will be affected in the shakeup.
Todd Rubenstein, a veteran music lawyer, has been watching the steady drumbeat of layoffs across the major labels since the start of 2023. “I find it all sad,” he says. “Not just from the human level of people losing their jobs, but everyone was already complaining before about what labels were not doing for their artists. What happens now that a hundred people got let go?”
On Monday (Sept. 23), Atlantic started trying to answer that question. The company announced a “new era” and a series of promotions. “We are committed to a single principle,” Grainge said in a statement. “Maximum impact for original artists.”
As Elliot Grainge prepares to take over as the new CEO of Atlantic Music Group on Oct. 1, he unveiled his new leadership team today (Sept. 23).
Craig Kallman, the longtime co-chairman/CEO of Atlantic Records, will now take on the title of chief music officer for Atlantic Music Group. Additionally, Zach Friedman and Tony Talamo, the former co-presidents of 10K Projects, which Grainge founded and sold to Warner Music Group last year, will become AMG’s chief operating officer and general manager, respectively. Erica Bellarosa will be general counsel, and former Republic chief creative officer Dave Rocco has been named president of creative.
At Atlantic Records, Lanre Gaba has been promoted to president of hip-hop, R&B and global music; Lu Mota has been named head of A&R for hip-hop, R&B and global music; and Marsha St. Hubert has been named head of marketing for hip-hop, R&B and global music. Kevin Weaver will retain his title as president of the West Coast, while Brandon Davis and Jeff Levin will be executive vps and co-heads of A&R for pop and rock. Marisa Aron will now take over as head of marketing for pop and rock.
Rayna Bass and Selim Bouab will remain as co-presidents of 300 Entertainment, while Nicholas Ziangas and Molly McLachlan have been promoted to co-presidents of 10K Projects. The announcement says that more announcements will be made shortly, and does not include leadership for Elektra Records, except to say that former president Gregg Nadel will be moving to a new role within the Warner Music Group.
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“Atlantic Music Group is home to the most extraordinary artists and executives in the world,” Grainge said in a statement. “This great label has moved through a meaningful transition, and emerged with a world-class team, made up of ambitious innovators and veteran visionaries. We have a plan to build on the extraordinary achievements of the last twenty years, honor the independent DNA of our labels, and collaborate with artists to pioneer a future filled with opportunity. To all our artists, managers, and partners, we are committed to a single principle — maximum impact for original artists. We’re looking forward to doing big, bold, brave things together.”
The announcement of the new structure follows an announcement last week about a reorganization of the Atlantic Music Group, through which several key leaders at Atlantic, 300 and Elektra departed the company, with layoffs of some 150-175 employees. That process is said to have been completed last week. Additionally, today’s announcement confirmed that 10K will continue as a standalone label under AMG, while Elektra, Fueled By Ramen and Roadrunner will continue as imprints.
“AMG will be lean, agile, fiercely creative, and deeply passionate about artists and their fans,” Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl said in a statement. “We’re opening an exciting new chapter in the story of an iconic label. Elliot’s thoughtfully chosen a team that combines a wealth of experience, a diversity of expertise, and a commitment to excellence.”
Warner Music Group is going through a transformational year by cutting costs, reducing its headcount and restructuring some label groups to save an estimated $260 million on an annualized basis, the company disclosed Thursday (Sept. 19).
According to a Warner Music Group SEC filing that details the reduction in headcount and financial impact of the company’s ongoing restructuring plan, the total head count reduction increased from 600 after February’s announcement to 750 people with Thursday’s update. The filing did not specify that all 150 additional job losses could be attributed to the Atlantic Music Group layoffs announced Thursday. Billboard’sinitial report on the layoffs stated that between 150 and 175 people would be affected.
WMG also updated the pre-tax cost savings, on an annualized basis, from “about $200 million” to “about $260 million,” meaning the company expects to save an additional $60 million annually. The restructuring plan’s severance costs increased $70 million to $210 million. The “significant majority” of severance payments and other termination costs from this year’s restructuring are expected to be paid by the end of fiscal 2026, according to the filing. WMG will pay approximately $30 million in the current fiscal year (ending Sept. 30) and about $85 million in fiscal 2025.
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“WMG is transforming swiftly this year, in a fast-paced, fiercely competitive industry,” CEO Robert Kyncl wrote Thursday in an internal memo to staff. “As always, delivering outstanding results for artists and songwriters is our highest priority in all our choices.”
WMG began its restructuring plan in February by announcing it would sell its owned and operated media properties and eliminate some corporate and support roles. As Billboard reported at the time, WMG reduced its headcount by 10% of the company’s workforce, or 600 people. Not all of that reduction in staff was the result of layoffs, however. Uproxx, HipHopDX and Dime Magazine were sold to a duo of media veterans: Uproxx founder and CEO Jarret Myer and Complex founder and CEO Rich Antoniello, in consortium with musician will.i.am.
This latest round of layoffs came two weeks before 10K Projects founder and CEO Elliot Grainge assumes the position of Atlantic Music Group CEO on Oct. 1 (the first day of WMG’s new fiscal year). Atlantic chairman/CEO Julie Greenwald announced her departure just five days after WMG announced Grainge would take the helm. Separately, Max Lousada, the London-based CEO of recorded music for WMG, stepped down and his role was eliminated. Kevin Liles, current chairman and CEO of 300 Elektra Entertainment, is also exiting the company without replacement.
Atlantic’s ranks were further thinned on Thursday with the departures of high-level executives at both Atlantic Records and Elektra Records, including Atlantic executive vp/GM Paul Sinclair and co-president of Black music Michael Kyser, as well as head of marketing Grace James, head of press and media Sheila Richman and head of touring Harlan Frey. At Elektra, head of business and legal affairs Margo Scott, head of marketing Katie Robinson, head of sales and streaming Adam Abramson, head of promotion and streaming Aimee Vaughan-Fruehe and co-head of Roadrunner Records Chris Brown were all also let go.
Atlantic Records announced more staff layoffs on Thursday (Sept. 19) as the process of remaking the company continues.
“I want to acknowledge the hard work, passion, and creativity of everyone across Atlantic, 300, and Elektra,” CEO Robert Kyncl said in a staff memo obtained by Billboard. “In particular, I want to thank the people who will be leaving us. You’ve made an indelible mark on this company and the careers of the extraordinary artists you’ve championed. Words never cut it in these situations but we’re forever grateful for all your contributions and achievements over the years.”
These cuts follow the announcement in August of a significant executive restructuring: 10K Projects founder Elliot Grainge will take over as CEO of Atlantic Music Group, starting October 1. As part of his promotion, 10K will move under the Atlantic Music Group umbrella — joining Atlantic Records, Elektra and 300 — while veteran executive and longtime Atlantic leader Julie Greenwald will be heading for the exit. Kyncl’s memo promised that the company will “be unveiling a new dynamic structure for the label group” next week.
The memo did not say how many Atlantic employees were being let go. Sources expect the layoffs to be significant and to affect multiple departments.
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Kyncl has been busy retooling WMG since he took over at the start of 2023. That metamorphosis has come hand in hand with layoffs; Atlantic’s latest cuts are the fourth round in the extended Warner Music Group family in roughly 18 months.
The company laid off 4% of staff, or about 270 people, including several at Atlantic, in March 2023. “To take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us, we need to make some hard choices in order to evolve,” Kyncl wrote in a memo to staff at the time. In February of this year, WMG laid out plans to cut another 10% of staff, primarily from the company’s media properties — like Uproxx and HipHopDX, which it acquired in August 2018 — as well some in corporate and support roles.
The same month, Atlantic initiated an additional round of layoffs, albeit much smaller in scope, cutting roughly two dozen employees in the radio and video departments. “As hard as it is to say goodbye to our friends and valued colleagues, it is critical that we keep retooling the company and add new resources and skill sets to our business units,” Greenwald wrote in an email at the time.
Greenwald is now on her way out. So is WMG CEO of Recorded Music Max Lousada; his role is not being replaced. Similarly, 300 Entertainment co-founder and current chairman/CEO of 300 Elektra Entertainment Kevin Liles is also exiting the company without replacement. Other executives are also expected to depart as part of this restructuring, sources say.
This is just part of the change sweeping the company as Kyncl seeks a “flatter structure.” Warner Records will now also oversee Warner Music Nashville moving forward, and the heads of global catalog, marketing, ADA (distribution) and WMX (the fan and merch division) will all report directly to Kyncl.
All three major label groups have gone through changes this year. In February, the Universal Music Group reorganized its label divisions into a loose East Coast-West Coast structure, aligning Republic, Island, Def Jam and Mercury under Republic Recording Company chairman/CEO Monte Lipman and Interscope, Geffen and Capitol under Interscope Capitol Labels Group chairman/CEO John Janick, moves that came with some significant layoffs. Sony Music also underwent layoffs this year, though not to the same extent as the other two companies, sources have said.
Read Kyncl’s full memo below:
Hi everyone,
Since we announced Julie would be stepping down, we’ve been thoughtfully working on how to evolve Atlantic Music Group for the future. Next week, we will be unveiling a new dynamic structure for the label group. Elliot begins as CEO of AMG on October 1.
As part of this reorganization, we will unfortunately be saying goodbye to talented people. I know you have been waiting to hear the plan, and rather than carry out changes piecemeal, we decided to make these difficult choices in one go.
Today will be a tough day, and by 9pm ET you will have heard if your job is affected. Your leaders and the People team will provide you with all the important details. We are committed to helping those impacted through this with the utmost respect, and supporting them with a runway during the transition.
I want to acknowledge the hard work, passion, and creativity of everyone across Atlantic, 300, and Elektra. In particular, I want to thank the people who will be leaving us. You’ve made an indelible mark on this company and the careers of the extraordinary artists you’ve championed. Words never cut it in these situations but we’re forever grateful for all your contributions and achievements over the years. We wish you the very best and know that you will continue to do great things in your next chapters.
WMG is transforming swiftly this year, in a fast-paced, fiercely competitive industry. As always, delivering outstanding results for artists and songwriters is our highest priority in all our choices.
As I mentioned, you will hear more about our plan for AMG next week, with Elliot making an announcement about the leadership team. In the meantime, we have so much incredible music in the market, and some outstanding projects on the way. Your continued support of teammates is amazing, and your run-through-walls focus on the music is extraordinary.
Thank you and take care,
Robert
08/19/2024
Tracing the rapid ascent of the 30-year-old record executive (and son of UMG’s Lucian Grainge), from his early entrepreneurial ventures to his industry-shaking new role.
08/19/2024
For most of the last decade, three labels have dominated the U.S. recorded music business: Universal Music Group’s Republic and Interscope, and Warner Music Group’s Atlantic. So on Aug. 1, when Warner announced that as part of a management shakeup it had appointed Elliot Grainge as CEO of Atlantic Music Group, the move came as a surprise. Co-chairmen Julie Greenwald and Craig Kallman had led Atlantic for two decades, through the hardest years of the music business, to become two of the most respected executives in the industry. Now, after two years of declining market share, leadership will pass to a 30-year-old executive who comes from outside the major label system.
Within a week, Greenwald, who had been elevated to chairman of Atlantic Music Group, announced that she plans to leave at the end of January. (Kallman, one of the all-time A&R greats, will stay on as CEO of Atlantic Records, under Grainge.) And the entire business seems to be wondering, What does this mean? It’s a big gamble for WMG CEO Robert Kyncl. Grainge, the son of UMG chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge, has an impressive track record of success on a smaller scale, but not much on the kind of scale major labels usually operate. What’s going on?
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The obvious answer is that this is the acceleration of a youthquake in the music business. Streaming payouts are determined disproportionately by younger listeners who spend more time online. The industry’s top executives aren’t getting any younger, and the music business has never been much for succession planning.
One industry executive I spoke with asked sarcastically if I thought Grainge was familiar with Ruth Brown, the R&B icon who had so many hits in the 1950s that Atlantic was nicknamed “the house that Ruth built,” in a nod to Yankee Stadium. I have no idea, but I also know that most young listeners don’t, so, as much as it pains me to say this, maybe that doesn’t matter so much. Greenwald is now regarded as an industry leader, but she wasn’t so much older than Grainge is now when she became president of Island Records in 2002.
Grainge does seem to have a skill for identifying artists who are building an audience online and putting resources behind them in a smart way. Is his 10K Projects, which became part of WMG last year, a model for the label of the future? He hasn’t built the careers of any household-name superstars, which has been the traditional strength of the majors, though some of the acts he signed, like Ice Spice, are still on the rise.
As recently as two years ago, the trend lines seemed clear: Hip-hop was conquering the world, not only growing but also shaping emergent genres from Latin urbano to Afrobeats. Now it’s a bit harder to make sense of what’s working. Pop is getting bigger, but so is country. Latin is growing faster than ever, but tastes are changing there, too. And fans are more fickle than ever. Katy Perry’s comeback is faltering. The new album from Dua Lipa, which seemed like a sure thing, has had a slow start. Are listeners just hungry for new artists? Maybe. But Sabrina Carpenter released her first album before Dua did. Only Taylor Swift endures. As for everyone else, all we are is dust in the wind.
Amid this uncertainty, it’s tempting to think that someone must have the answers — especially if that person is young. Sure, the feeling goes, I don’t understand what’s happening, but I bet that guy does. And maybe he does! Grainge built a successful company by focusing on finding, developing and marketing talent in the digital world. The major labels have generally made bigger bets that paid off, or didn’t, in a bigger way. That’s harder to do now — there are fewer real superstars partly because there are fewer real paths to superstardom.
It may be more important than ever, though. Hit albums remain popular longer than ever, boosting the success of previous music by the same artist. Of the top 10 albums of the first half of 2024, Morgan Wallen had two of them, one each from 2021 and 2023; Zach Bryan’s 2023 album was the 8th biggest of the first half of 2024, so he could well have two of the biggest releases this year. (That top 10 list for the first half of 2024 has only seven artists.)
That’s the kind of success Grainge needs to bring to Atlantic, whether it comes from new acts or old ones, big bets or small ones the label doubles down on, or some combination of the two. All of the questions this raises about the future of the music business — What does this mean? What’s going on? — will be answered, at least to some extent, by how he does at that.
The power of the major label has been completely decimated.”
That broadside came from Elliot Grainge during an interview with The Los Angeles Times last year. In the profile, Grainge, founder of the independent label 10K Projects and son of Universal Music Group chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge, added that the majors were like “a conveyor belt with 100 other priorities” and “mediocre-at-best product-management departments.” In his view, there was “not one example” of an artist “signed, developed and marketed from scratch to huge fanfare by a major label in the last three years.”
Sixteen months later, one of those conveyor belts will soon belong to Grainge. In a sudden and surprising shakeup, Warner Music Group announced that the 30-year-old will take over as CEO of Atlantic Music Group on Oct. 1, less than a year after WMG entered a joint venture with 10K. In his new position, Grainge will oversee the renowned Atlantic Records, as well as 300 Elektra Entertainment and his own imprint.
This means he will jump from managing a staff of around 30 in 2023, according to The L.A. Times, to commanding hundreds of employees. And as part of the overhaul, at least two well-regarded WMG veterans are headed for the exits: Max Lousada, who served as the company’s CEO of Recorded Music since 2017; and Julie Greenwald, who had led Atlantic as chairman and COO since 2006.
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The upheaval marks an abrupt generational shift for Atlantic, the storied label co-founded by music legend Ahmet Ertegun in 1947. “They’re going from the most traditional, A&R-driven leadership to a very contemporary, digitally-native new administration,” says one executive who has worked with Grainge in the past. “It’s going to be interesting to see what happens.”
“Cutting Away the Bullshit”
Grainge has risen rapidly in a remarkably short time in the business, and several executives who have worked with him cheered his latest promotion. “We’re still operating in an antiquated system, and Elliot’s found his success by cutting away the bullshit,” says Solomon Sobande, who managed XXXTentacion, the SoundCloud rapper-turned-streaming superstar, before his death and teamed up with Grainge to release X’s ? album in 2018. “There’s a certain level of commitment to his artists, making sure they had everything they needed to be successful, that I was always enthralled by.”
Some Warner employees, however, said they were upset at the departures precipitated by Grainge’s promotion. For them, losing Greenwald, who has been at Atlantic for two decades and assured Ertegun she would take care of the company upon being named president back in 2004, symbolizes the end of an era. (Craig Kallman, who served as chairman/CEO of Atlantic alongside Greenwald for many years and focused on A&R, will remain as CEO of Atlantic Records, albeit in a diminished role.) “We did not think Julie’s run was up yet, and we did not think Max’s run was up yet,” says one WMG executive who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Both Lousada and Greenwald were known for their close connections to marquee artists on WMG’s rosters; filling the void left by their departures will be no mean feat. Each has spent decades at record labels, developing reputations for their relationships with both artists and staff. Several executives expressed surprise that the new Atlantic boss is relatively inexperienced — even at a time when younger CEOs have taken over Columbia Records, Def Jam, Island Records and Warner Records, Grainge is the youngest major-label chief by a wide margin — rather than someone who has invested the years to learn how the majors operate.
Multiple WMG employees also wondered how 10K’s approach to signing and building artists will translate to Atlantic. While Grainge’s label has helped generate billions of streams, it has not yet nurtured an arena-headlining superstar in the mold of Atlantic’s Bruno Mars or Ed Sheeran, two artists whom Lousada and Greenwald helped shepherd to global success.
“Julie was widely regarded as one of the last real artist advocates who prioritized substantial songwriting over memetic share-ability,” says one manager who has worked closely with Atlantic. “She knows superstars transcend the algorithm. I really haven’t seen 10K develop anything that I think will last a generation or more.”
In addition, some employees said they are struggling to wrap their heads around the fact that the father of their incoming boss runs their biggest competitor. Together, father and son will lead companies that control more than a third of the U.S. recorded music market.
And some executives are worried that additional consolidation might mean more layoffs. Earlier this year, Atlantic laid off roughly two dozen staffers, mostly from radio and video; any new CEO at any company is likely to have new priorities. Grainge will do “some creative marketing that might not be ‘traditional’ for the majors,” predicts a second executive who has worked with him.
“Some labels still send shit to radio as their primary marketing strategy,” adds a third source who knows Grainge. “10K hasn’t done that. They invest heavily in digital — their ways of working with artists are much more modern.”
A rep for WMG declined to comment. On a recent earnings call, WMG CEO Robert Kyncl said he was “excited by the prospect of taking Atlantic’s culture-making capabilities” and “adding Elliot’s digitally native approach into the mix.” That combination, he continued, will “grow the label’s outstanding reputation.”
“Labels Are Trying to Adjust”
All the majors are facing an increasingly tough landscape because their influence over what music becomes popular is diminished — “decimated,” in Grainge’s words. As a result, “Labels are trying to adjust and test different methodologies to figure out what the future of a major will look like,” says a fourth executive who has worked with Grainge in the past.
In the last year, outside of the superstar ecosystems, music industry wins have often come from smaller, more agile outfits like Pulse Records (Tommy Richman) or Artist Partner Group (Odetari, Lay Bankz). 10K’s biggest success since moving to Warner has been Artemas’ “I Like the Way You Kiss Me” — low-slung club-pop — which peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100, and, to a lesser extent, Rich Amiri‘s “One Call” (No. 60).
These artists typically thrive in niches online, and don’t necessarily release the type of blockbuster albums that linger near the top of the Billboard 200 for weeks on end. But many young executives believe that this “riches in the niches” approach is the future — they argue that hardly any new superstars will be created now that audiences are spread across dozens of online platforms and mass media has lost much of its firepower.
Grainge’s rise, then, is a nod to the success of these streamlined, quick-on-the-draw operations, with their lower overheads and digital expertise. “It says something about the state of the industry as a whole that one big label system made a bet on a more independent, lean music business strategy,” says the first executive who has worked with Grainge.
But there’s no guarantee that the two systems will mesh. “There’s a political element to going into a place like Atlantic which is very different from running an independent company,” the executive continues. “It’s a challenge to be in that position and inherit decades worth of custom and chains of command.”
Elliot Grainge
Logan Mock
“The Red Tape Doesn’t Exist”
Grainge founded 10K Projects in 2016 and connected with many of his biggest acts early on — often rappers with avid online followings. Grainge was quick to dive into the volatile, punk- and emo-inflected hip-hop that erupted on SoundCloud in this era, signing Trippie Redd, 6ix9ine and XXXTentacion, among others. (More recently, 10K signed Ice Spice in partnership with Capitol Music Group; while most artists moved to WMG with 10K in the joint venture last September, Ice Spice remained under 10K/Capitol.)
At the time, the major labels hadn’t yet built the tools they now use to scour the internet’s nooks and crannies looking for viral phenomena, which left an opportunity for executives immersed in these digital scenes to find talent. The majors may also have been wary of the media controversies and legal troubles that dogged artists like 6ix9ine and XXXTentacion. (At the time, Universal Music Group distributed 10K.) Grainge has “never been afraid to jump out the window for something he believed in,” Sobande says.
“The first time I spoke to Elliot, I was really shocked — everybody knows who his dad was, so I was expecting a spoiled rich kid,” Sobande continues. Instead, he found Grainge “was down to get in the trenches. He was with us flying out to Florida, picking singles, coming in the studio, actually doing the work.”
10K developed a reputation for finding online phenomena early and marketing them savvily, especially on youth-friendly platforms like TikTok — an approach that has now been widely adopted by labels. “The guys at 10K are quick and nimble as it relates to digital strategy and taking risks,” says Karl Fowlkes, an entertainment attorney who has signed several clients to the label. “That’s what makes them special. The red tape doesn’t exist.”
Grainge’s “word was as good as a contract,” the first executive who worked with him agrees. “If you spoke to the guy and he agreed to do something, it would get done without having to jump through a million hoops.”
10K was also known for offering flexible — and generous — short-term deals to artists with momentum, and getting those agreements done speedily. (In contrast, multiple lawyers say Atlantic favored much more traditional deals until relatively recently.) XXXTentacion was initially signed to EMPIRE, but “they could only do so much at the time — it wasn’t the huge company it is now,” Sobande says. “Elliot wanted to get in the X business. And I remember calling him one day, like, ‘Listen, I’ve got an opportunity for you to get involved.’”
Grainge’s response: “Tell me how much, and I’ll do it.”
In the music business, financial commitments often come with strings attached, but multiple sources who know Grainge say he is uninterested in meddling in artists’ processes. He’s very much “this is their idea, let’s go with it,” says the third executive who has collaborated with Atlantic’s incoming CEO.
Birdman Zoe manages the producer Taz Taylor, whose Internet Money record label signed a joint venture with 10K in 2019. “We had a lot of label meetings early on,” Birdman Zoe says. “We really liked the fact that Elliot told us, ‘I want to let you guys do your thing. I’m not here to give you my opinion on something I might not know about. I’m going to back you and financially support you.’”
“You’ve Got to Be Able to Move Quickly”
Independent operations like AWAL, 300 and Alamo have all been snapped up, wholly or partially, by major labels in recent years, part of the majors’ never-ending struggle for market share. 10K was also a target: In September 2023, the company ended its longtime association with UMG and announced a joint venture with Warner Music Group. As part of the move, 10K became a standalone frontline label at WMG and Grainge joined the company’s leadership team.
Forging this partnership was one of the first big moves by Kyncl, who held roles at YouTube and Netflix before taking over WMG in January 2023. (His background in tech has been a point of contention with staff — multiple executives worry that he and the former tech employees he has hired understand data but not culture.) Kyncl inherited a challenge: Halfway through 2024, Republic Records’ current market share was greater than all of Warner Music Group’s. Without big releases from marquee stars, Atlantic in particular has slipped; it’s now behind sister label Warner Records in current market share so far in 2024.
Grainge will be partially responsible for reversing that decline. Sobande is confident he can pull it off. “To be successful, you’ve got to be able to move quickly, and a lot of times the corporate structure slows that process down,” Sobande acknowledges. But if anybody can figure out a way to navigate that tension, “it’s going to be Elliot.”
Julie Greenwald will step down from her role as co-chair/COO of Atlantic Records and chairman/CEO of Atlantic Music Group, she announced during a company town hall on Tuesday (Aug. 6). She will be succeeded in her role as chairman/CEO of Atlantic Music Group by 10K Projects CEO/founder Elliot Grainge, effective Oct. 1.
The Zoom call was roughly 10-15 minutes long, according to sources at the label. Greenwald’s announcement of her departure was said by staffers who spoke with Billboard to be both “classy,” “inspiring” and “empowering,” with the longtime executive focusing on the success she has seen at Atlantic over the last two decades and clarifying that she will officially exit at the end of January 2025.
Tuesday’s announcement comes just five days after it was reported that Warner Music Group would be undergoing a major executive restructuring that would see CEO of recorded music Max Lousada stepping down at the end of September, Grainge ascending to the role of CEO of Atlantic Music Group effective Oct. 1 and Greenwald transitioning to the role of chairman of Atlantic Music Group, a move described in a press release as a “leadership transition.” The changes are thought to be far-reaching and indicative of a generational shift at Warner Music Group, which has been helmed by CEO Robert Kyncl since Jan. 1, 2023.
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One of the most celebrated executives in the music business, Greenwald has spent the last 20 years of her career at Atlantic and become practically synonymous with the storied label. During her time at the helm of Atlantic Music Group, she shepherded the careers of artists such as Bruno Mars, Ed Sheeran, Cardi B, Twenty One Pilots, Brandi Carlile, Charli XCX, Lil Uzi Vert and dozens more. She was named Billboard’s Women in Music executive of the year in 2017.
Greenwald led Atlantic alongside Craig Kallman, co-chair/CEO of Atlantic Records and the A&R brain behind the operation. Kallman will continue to hold the title of CEO of Atlantic Records.
At the time of the restructuring announcement, Greenwald said in a statement: “My whole career is about developing baby bands into career artists and empowering our amazing people to change culture in unexpected ways. It’s been 20 years since I walked through the door at Atlantic and began the work of rearchitecting this iconic label. I couldn’t have done it without the deep passion and dedication of my incredible team, and our unbelievable artists, who make music that inspires and moves people everywhere. Finally, I want to welcome Elliot; I’m looking forward to working with him as we continue to place our artists and their music at the heart of this company.”
Additional reporting by Melinda Newman.