MAX LOUSADA'S FAREWELL TO WMG TEAM

HITS has obtained Max Lousada's gracious farewell message to the WMG staff—an email introduced by the subject line "Moving forward, with gratitude"—which we present in its entirety here. What will Lousada's next chapter look like? Stay tuned.

Hi everyone,

Monday will be my last day as CEO, Warner Recorded Music.

Although I’ll be working in an advisory capacity till the end of January, it feels like this is the moment to thank you all for what has been the most extraordinary experience and the most incredible honor.

My entire career, from my indie roots through my 21 years here at Warner, has been guided by one simple truth: People who can make music that moves people are special. The world needs them. It’s a privilege to help those artists be seen, heard, appreciated and, ultimately, to succeed.

So I want to express my gratitude to all the artists and managers who put their faith in me and in Warner to support them. Being there from the beginning with superstars like Ed Sheeran, Bruno Mars, Dua Lipa, and David Guetta; our partnerships with legends like Coldplay and Linkin Park; being entrusted with the catalogs of icons like David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac, Madonna and Led Zeppelin; seeing artists like Megan Thee Stallion, Lil Uzi Vert, CKay, Zach Bryan, Myke Towers, Gunna, Lizzo, Jack Harlow, Benson Boone, and Charli xcx make their mark on the culture… These and so many others are memories and relationships I will treasure.

I want to give huge respect to everyone who champions artists every day by supporting their creativity, telling their stories, fueling their fandom and taking them global, as well as the unsung heroes protecting artists’ rights, getting them paid and making sure all of us are equipped to do our best work. Everyone here plays their part and, whatever your role, know that I see you and I appreciate you. It has been my privilege to work with you and to lead you.

I would like to thank Len [Blavatnik] for backing Warner and to wish him, Robert [Kyncl] and the WMG leadership team every success in steering this unique and historic company forward.

For all of you taking Warner into its next era, remember that, at its very best, music is the sound of change. What the most iconic artists and the most enduring businesses have in common is evolution. Sometimes that’s exhilarating; sometimes it’s messy and difficult. I encourage you to embrace ALL of it, because it’s when we challenge ourselves to move forward that artists win, fans win and we win. Ultimately, music has to win. It’s just too important not to.

Whatever my next era looks like, I’ll always be rooting for you and I hope many of our paths will cross again.

For now, I’m going to go and put a record on…

Thank you, all of you, for everything.

Max