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"The simple message I want you to take away is about hope, about a new way forward to build a new and better EMI, about effectively working together in a simplified organization, and about giving life to a new culture of teamwork dedicated to delivery on the promise we make to our artists..."
—-Roger Faxon on EMI Music reorganization

JUST THE FAXON: WERRE, GATFIELD AND MANN ARE OUT AT EMI

Roger Faxon's Reorganization Begins to Take Shape
The Roger Faxon era has begun in earnest at EMI Music, with the exits of executives Ronn Werre along with A&R chiefs Nick Gatfield and Billy Mann.

The music publishing head, who took over from Charles Allen in June, has firmly put his stamp on the company.

Read a Faxon memo: “As we move forward to a new structure, it is important to be clear that we are not going back to our old structure…which encouraged division and isolation. We need a structure that puts teamwork at its center with clear accountabilities and clear authorities.”

Werre, the highly regarded head of the company’s North American operations, has stepped down. He was originally named Chief Operating Officer for EMI Music with David Kassler back in May, 2009, by then-CEO Elio Leoni-Sceti. He and his executive team—including Dominic Pandiscia, Capitol RecordsGreg Thompson and Angelica Cob-Baehler as well as Capitol Nashville’s Mike Dungan—have largely been credited with boosting the label’s marketshare, thanks to the success of Lady Antebellum and Katy Perry.

Colin Finkelstein will take his place as COO North America, with EMI Music Publishing COO Leo Corbett also slated for a major role as Group COO on Faxon’s team.

Gatfield originally was hired in 2008 as President of A&R Labels, North American and U.K. He began his business career at EMI Records in the U.K., where he worked from 1985 to 1992, first as A&R and in-house producer, helping to sign platinum sellers Climie Fisher and Brother Beyond, and working with major artists such as Duran Duran and Pet Shop Boys. He was promoted to the position of Director of A&R in 1987 (making him the youngest director in EMI’s history) with overall A&R responsibility for all of EMI’s labels. Signings during his tenure as Director of A&R included Radiohead, Blur, EMF and Jesus Jones.

From 1993-'98, he worked in L.A. for PolyGram, where he was President of Polydor Records, presiding over signings such as the platinum-plus Tonic and the platinum Badlees and is credited with reinvigorating the label’s catalog business.

Longtime producer/songwriter Mann was hired in 2007 by Guy Hands to join the company’s investment board “to assist in the transformation of the group.” The founder and CEO of Stealth Entertainment worked with Pink, Sting, Joss Stone, Take That, Celine Dion, Martina McBride, Jessica Simpson, Delta Goodrem, Ricky Martin and Art Garfunkel. He has recorded sales of over 60 million records over the past 10 years, as well as multiple top 10 singles around the globe, through his various collaborations. Mann has also been a nurturer of various new artists and songwriters including Teddy Geiger, and Esmeé Denters.

Faxon outlined his plans in a massive internal communication, which stressed that EMI Music must transform itself from a product company into a service organization, “one that is obsessive about discovering great music (or rediscovering great music from our catalog) and connecting it with an audience through every route available to us.”

He then broke out the new structure's three major building blocks:

  1. A strong office of the CEO, able to draw on a staff organization focused on developing the ideas, strategies and practical tools essential to driving the business forward on a new path.
  2. Operating “Hubs,” with the resources to support and lead their regions.
  3. Local business units focused on execution and delivery with the authority to act.

To that end, he has divided the world into three Hubs, with him and Finkelstein leading North America, David Kassler in charge of the “Europe Plus” Hub and EMI Music Publishing’s Nestor Casonu and Juan Manuel Garcia in Latin America.

Other central functions include Finance (Shane Naughton), Legal/Business Affairs (Kyla Mullins), Technology (Simon Hollins), Supply Chain & Procurement (Gareth Thomas), Digital New Business (Mark Pibe), Human Resources (Jenny Bryant) and Artist Relations (Caryn Tomlinson).

His six point plan includes

*Unmatched insight into emerging consumer and market trends
*Excellence in new music, the lifeblood of our business
*A revitalized catalog, with a robust re-discovery and recommendation process
*Broadening the revenue base through global rights management
*Scalable, low-cost organization and infrastructure
*Industry reform

Concluded Faxon: “After all these words, the simple message I want you to take away is about hope, about a new way forward to build a new and better EMI, about effectively working together in a simplified organization, and about giving life to a new culture of teamwork dedicated to delivery on the promise we make to our artists.

“I am a firm believer in EMI, its people, and the music we represent. It’s an honor for me to lead this company. WE have an opportunity to build a whole new EMI as a different kind of music company at the forefront of a wholly different music industry. WE now have to take the concrete actions to take advantage of that opportunity. I am confident that we have it within us to achieve this, and I am excited about working with you all to do exactly that.”

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