ATLANTIC LAYS OFF TWO DOZEN IN RADIO, VIDEO

Atlantic Music Group is laying off "about two dozen people" primarily from its radio and video teams, according to an internal staff memo from Julie Greenwald, the company's chairman/CEO. The moves are being made so as to separately bring in "additional skill sets in social media, content creation, community building and audience insights," allowing Atlantic "to dial up our fan focus and help artists tell their stories in ways that resonate."

Greenwald asserted that the layoffs were not tied to merging or closing any of Atlantic's subsidiary labels, which include ATCO, Big Beat and Canvasback, or 300 Elektra Entertainment imprints such as Fueled by Ramen and Roadrunner. Greenwald took stewardship of Atlantic Music Group in October 2022 while also retaining her co-chair/COO title at Atlantic with co-chair/CEO Craig Kallman.

"We’ve all heard the same industry rumors about labels being reduced or merged into one another. I can tell you: this is not that,” she said. "We’re deeply committed to the unique cultures across our labels, led by 300, Elektra and Atlantic. Craig, [300 and Elektra CEO] Kevin [Liles] and I passionately believe these identities are crucial to attracting great artists and building great careers. We want artists to be choiceful about the culture and team they belong with, just as we’re thoughtful about deciding which artists we’re signing."

Atlantic parent company Warner Music Group laid off approximately 600 employees earlier this month, with CEO Robert Kyncl saying the majority of the money saved would be reinvested in the core recorded-music business. For the final three months of 2023, WMG reported its highest quarterly revenue since going public in June 2020.

Here is Greeenwald's note to staff:

Dear Atlantic, Elektra and 300,

Two weeks ago, during the all hands call you heard Robert and Max talk about the evolution of our music company. They tasked us last year to examine our staffing and ask the tough question, how do we achieve maximum impact for our artists in this ever changing landscape?

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. I have now been at Atlantic for 20 years. The company has grown and evolved tremendously, because we have not been afraid to implement change and add new marketers, new A&R, new data and research and even new labels. Always evolving but with a consistent North Star: sign the best musicians and commit to the hardest work of building real careers through true artist development.

Our artists today need more support from us than ever—in a world that’s getting noisier, faster and more fiercely competitive. We have to do more, but at the same time, our approach has to be authentic, bold and bespoke to individual artists. We can’t impact culture if we don’t have the right mix of people who live that culture. That’s why we need dedicated teams of multi-talented, ambidextrous people—our ‘SWAT teams’—who encircle the artist and do everything possible to help achieve their full potential.

The changes we’re making today are primarily happening in our radio and video teams. We’ll preserve our industry-leading position in those areas, while bringing on new and additional skill sets in social media, content creation, community building and audience insights. This will allow us to dial up our fan focus and help artists tell their stories in ways that resonate.

As part of this shift, I’m sorry to say about two dozen people will be leaving us from across our three labels and their imprints. We’ve already informed everyone who is impacted. I know we will all support each other, even more than usual, and I deeply appreciate your empathy and understanding.

We’ve all heard the same industry rumors about labels being reduced or merged into one another. I can tell you: this is not that. We’re deeply committed to the unique cultures across our labels, led by 300, Elektra and Atlantic. Craig, Kevin and I passionately believe these identities are crucial to attracting great artists and building great careers. We want artists to be choiceful about the culture and team they belong with, just as we’re thoughtful about deciding which artists we’re signing.

Right now, there’s incredible music coming through from artists across the entire group. We have some of our biggest superstars returning, and some extraordinary new artists we’re building in a very real way. We’re taking the right step into the future, and I hope you’ll continue to share your ideas with senior management so we can continually improve.

Thank you.

Julie