CELINE JOSHUA IS UNIVERSALLY EMPOWERED (UPDATE)

It’s official: Celine Joshua—who’s become known for thinking outside the box in her dual role as SVP Commerce for Epic and Sony Music—is moving to UMG, where she’ll assume the corporate title of GM Commercial, Content and Artist Strategy, reporting to company overlord Sir Lucian Grainge.

In this role, she will work across UMG’s labels, publishing company and global territories to maximize commercial opportunities and implement new artist development strategies.

Joshua will also be given a new imprint bearing the intriguing nameplate 10:22 pm that will specialize in signing and developing recording artists, social media influencers and digital media creators to develop new forms of multimedia content and storytelling.

“Universal Music continues to lead the industry in developing new creative and commercial opportunities for our artists and labels around the world. Our success will only accelerate with the addition of Celine, who has built an exceptional track-record of identifying projects that drive tangible results,” Grainge said. “I’m looking forward to having her work with our label and territory leaders to find even more opportunities across digital services and platforms, while building 10:22 pm into a progressive home for new forms of digital content.”

During a career spanning increasingly senior roles at Warner Music, Walt Disney Records and Sony Music, Joshua has built a track record of combining data analysis and sharp artistic instincts to develop innovative commercial opportunities for artists and labels.

Among the innovative concepts she developed in her prior gig was the Epic AF series, playlists of one-off singles from label artists marketed as albums so that they’d be eligible to chart.

She joined Sony Music Entertainment in 2013 as Senior Vice President, overseeing digital sales across the company’s labels, before moving to Epic Records, where she oversaw all aspects of commerce and strategy for several top artists, social influencers and digital stars including 21 Savage, Future, DJ Khaled and Camila Cabello.

“We have only begun to scratch the surface of what’s possible on digital platforms in terms of building the artist fan base, delivering content for a digital-first audience and driving new sources of revenue,” Joshua said. “Universal Music has continued to be at the forefront of these efforts.”

Photo credit: Jimmy Fontaine