ADA ASIA TAPS ISMAIL AS MANAGING DIRECTOR

ADA Asia has promoted Sarah Ismail to managing director. She'll simultaneously fulfill interim responsibilities as managing director of Warner Music Philippines.

Ismail will be based in Manila for the short term before relocating to Hong Kong. She will report to Warner Music Asia co-Presidents Chris Gobalakrishna and Jonathan Serbin as well as ADA President Cat Kreidich. She joined WMG in 2019 and has overseen the success of Filipino artists such as Lola Amour and Dilaw.

"Throughout her tenure with Warner Music, Sarah has consistently showcased exceptional management skills and a visionary mindset that truly set her apart," Gobalakrishna and Serbin said in a joint statement. "Her advancement not only reaffirms our commitment to independent artists and labels across Asia but empowers our incredibly talented team to reach new levels of success."

"With Sarah's leadership experience, extensive network and deep understanding of artist development from a label perspective, we’re poised to illuminate local musical brilliance, giving independent artists the bespoke support they need to break through and realize unparalleled success," added Kreidich.

ADA boasts distribution deals with a number of the region's key players, including Bandai-Namco in Japan, Baramey Production in Cambodia, DPM in Indonesia and Yin Yang Media in Vietnam. To help strengthen the company's reach in the latter, ADA has also hired Thuan Tran as label manager for Vietnam.