Thursday, August 20, 2009
Sony Music Entertainment has upped four executives:
Richard Story has been named President of the
Commercial Music Group;
Kevin Lawrie has been made President of the company’s European operations;
Afo Verde will succeed Lawrie as President of the Latin Region; and
Alan Newham has been upped from SVP to EVP International.
In his new job, Story will oversee Legacy Recordings, International Catalog Marketing, Strategic and Custom Marketing, Film and Television Licensing, the CMG Commercial Sales and Digital Marketing teams and the company’s archives. He’ll report to Sony Music top dog Rolf Schmidt-Holtz. Story previously led the European and South African managing directors and regional offices. He comes from the BMG side of the fence.
Beginning Sept. 1, Lawrie will oversee the European territories (ex-U.K./Ireland and GSA), as well as Africa. He’ll be based in London and report to President International Richard Sanders. He joined Sony Music in 1993 as Director Strategic Planning.
Also starting Sept. 1, Verde will oversee Sony Music’s operations across Latin America, supervising Latin music recordings in South America, Central America, the U.S., Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. He’ll be based in Buenos Aires and Miami and report to Sanders. Verde is currently President, Sony Music SUR (Argentina and Chile), a position he has held since 2005. Before joining Sony BMG Verde worked as a successful composer, producer and executive producer.
Newham will work closely with SME's individual business units in Europe in developing and implementing Sony Music's strategic goals for the region. He’s based in London and will report to Lawrie, while also continuing to undertake worldwide initiatives on behalf of Sanders. Newham joined Arista in 1999 and was part of the team that created J Records in 2000.
