- Warner Music will eliminate 4% of its global workforce, some 270 workers. It is the first news of mass layoffs in the music industry.
- The CEO of the label said that they are “difficult decisions” but necessary “to evolve”.
- The move is not a blanket cost-cutting exercise, but a “reorganization to adapt to a rapidly changing business climate,” it added.
Warner Music is going to get rid of 4% of its global workforce, a percentage that represents some 270 workers.
This is the first news of mass layoffs in the music industry, a sector that until now has emerged unscathed from global economic woes.
They are “difficult decisions” but they are made “to evolve,” said the CEO of the label that represents multiple artists such as Green Day, Coldplay, Ed Sheeran and Bruno Mars, among others. In Latin America, he has the rights to the work of Maná and Luis Miguel, just to mention a few.
Mass layoffs at Luis Miguel y Maná’s record label
Warner Music is one of the largest record labels and among those that have tried the most to adapt to new marketing strategies to keep up with the changing landscape of the industry.
It is that while some of the traditional big “players” have maintained their positions of power, new strategies and technological advances have created space for emerging labels and independent artists.
In that sense, WM has invested heavily in social media and influencer marketing, recognizing that younger audiences are increasingly discovering new music through these channels.
Both Warner Music and the rest of the labels (big and small) face significant challenges. The rise of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music has changed the way people consume music, and those who don’t adapt “die.”
Warner Music’s letter to its employees
Read the news this Wednesday, March 29, along those lines: Warner Music Group will cut 270 positions as part of a “broader” restructuring of the company, new CEO Robert Kyncl told staff in a published email. by Variety.
The memorandum says that for “To take advantage of the opportunities that lie ahead, we must make some tough decisions.”
Kyncl emphasizes in the memo that the measure “it is not a general cost reduction exercise”but rather a reorganization to adapt to a rapidly changing business climate.
“Each decision has been carefully made by our operators around the world, who considered the specific needs, abilities and priorities of each division and territory, in order to prepare us for long-term success,” he wrote.
It is not clear which positions or divisions will be affected, but Kyncl says that he comprises about 4 percent of the company’s global workforce.
Warner, which went public in 2020, nine years after being acquired by Len Blavatnik’s Access Industries, is the world’s third-largest music company and includes Atlantic, Warner, 300-Elektra, Parlophone, the catalog division Rhino and Warner Chappell Music.
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