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New roles for Schmidt-Holtz suggests Sony departure

By | Published on Thursday 20 January 2011

Sony Music

The boss of Sony Music, Rolf Schmidt-Holtz, has confirmed he will become a partner in a Hamburg-based internet-TV company called TeVeo in April, adding credence to the theory he is preparing to step down from his top job at the major music company.

Schmidt-Holtz’s contract with Sony Music is up for renewal in March and it has been widely assumed he will leave the major. So much so, more gossip time has been given to predicting his successor, with Universal Music chairman Doug Morris currently a front-runner.

Confirming his involvement in TeVeo, Schmidt-Holtz told reporters in Germany: “TeVeo has realized the signs of the times and plays a key role in hybrid-TV-technology. I see enormous growth for TeVeo’s pay-platform TV-ID, not only in Germany, but for the whole European market”.

Although it’s not clear if Schmidt-Holtz will take an executive role at TeVeo, he does seem to be taking on a number of new projects in his home country, suggesting a Sony departure.

According to Billboard, he also recently became a shareholder in another Hamburg-based firm called Hanse Venture and he has accepted a place on the board of a foundation run by his former employer Bertelsmann. Schmidt-Holtz, of course, was boss of their record company BMG before its merger with Sony in 2004.

Sony Music is yet to comment on Schmidt-Holtz’s future at the company or any possible replacement.



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