BMG futureproof

Photo Credit: BMG

BMG unveils a new growth plan, promising a ‘futureproof’ restructuring ahead of ‘another tectonic change.’

The largest independent global music company, BMG, announced to its staff details of a restructuring plan designed to “futureproof” the company and further develop its ability to accommodate artists and songwriters on a global scale. The plan is two-pronged and focuses on its key service areas: music publishing and recordings.

Doubling down on its presence in the US, BMG’s updated plan involves a new global catalog function based in Los Angeles, while also working to recalibrate its presence in continental Europe. BMG aims to further strengthen its artist-focused services with substantial investments in technology, alongside clarifying roles and structures (and eliminating redundancies) to make the company more accountable to its clients.

“Fifteen years after the emergence of streaming, music is going through another tectonic change. It is vital we now re-engineer our business to make the most of that opportunity,” said CEO Thomas Coesfeld. “BMG has challenged the conventions of the music industry ever since we began, bringing music publishing and recordings under one roof with a distinctive service-oriented and transparent approach. Now, new ways of creating and consuming music and looming changes in streaming economics are challenging us to do even better for our clients.”

BMG’s new structure will make a “clear distinction” between local expertise in artist relationships and global functions that serve them, with catalog, sales, and marketing now becoming global functions, alongside investments, technology, rights, and royalties — which BMG already organizes on a global basis.

“We are changing the way we do things. We will combine creative intuition with data-driven insights to deliver the best service for our clients and customers,” continues Coesfeld. “We are local where necessary, global where possible.”

But BMG’s ambitious plans for growth have already upended several positions as part of its “futureproofing” efforts. BBR Music Group Senior VP of Promotion, Carson James, and Senior Director of A&R, Chris Poole, have already exited the company as part of BMG’s global restructuring, which eliminated their positions.

James joined BBR in 2009 after nine years with Curb Records in a comparable role; before that, he programmed country station WLWI in Montgomery, Alabama. Poole joined BBR in 2018, previously working at CTM/Writer’s Ink, where he worked in artist development. He initially began his career working in artist management at Paravel Management, which he co-founded in 2013.