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Warner launches Arts Music to bring together classical, jazz and theatrical music

By | Published on Tuesday 6 June 2017

Warner Music

Warner Music has announced the launch of a brand new division to be called Arts Music which will bring together labels focused on classical, jazz, musical theatre, film scores and songs for kids. Which is quite a wide remit.

The new division will be led by Kevin Gore, who returns to the major having previously run its Rhino label and catalogue division. He will report into Eliah Seton, who is President of Warner’s label services business ADA. Don’t know why.

Says Seton: “By bringing together these diverse genres and labels under unified leadership, Arts Music will provide a dynamic, focused infrastructure devoted to nurturing outstanding artists and projects, encouraging creative cross-pollination, and strengthening our capacity for growth. I am THRILLED to welcome Kevin back to the WMG family. With his deep background at all three major music groups he comes to Arts Music with unmatched hands-on experience and wide-ranging accomplishments”.

Gore himself added: “The diverse genres encompassed under Arts Music all share passionate and devoted fanbases that have been largely underserved in the current marketplace. What’s particularly exciting is that since these fans have favoured physical and download formats, there is an enormous promise for growth as they migrate to streaming services and curated experiences. The timeless appeal of so much of this music, combined with rapidly evolving opportunities in the live music and partnership marketing arenas, opens up a wealth of possibilities for both established and emerging artists across a vast creative spectrum”.

Despite not existing until you started reading this article, Arts Music has already announced a new deal, a joint venture with the theatre-focused US indie label Sh-K-Boom Records. By extraordinary coincidence, the co-founder and President of that label – Kurt Deutsch – recently took on the additional job of SVP Theatrical & Catalogue Development at Warner’s music publishing business, Warner/Chappell. Happy days.



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