Following another layoff round at Atlantic Music Group, Elliot Grainge (pictured), who’s set to begin as the division’s CEO on October 1st, is preparing to announce a new leadership team. Photo Credit: WMG
Let the sweeping Warner Music Group reorganization continue – now with a “new dynamic structure,” in part the result of layoffs, at Atlantic Music Group (AMG).
CEO Robert Kyncl informed team members of the AMG restructuring and staff reduction via an internal memo that promptly entered the media spotlight. Yesterday, when covering the departure of Warner Music Japan CEO Kaz Kobayashi, we recapped some of the many structural changes and C-suite shakeups at WMG on the year.
While the developments aren’t confined to 2024 – the past 18 or so months have delivered a number of personnel pivots at Warner Music – things have certainly ramped up since the top of August. Solely in the U.S., Max Lousada, Julie Greenwald, and Kevin Liles are on the way out at the major label.
And according to Kyncl, since Greenwald (who’d initially been tapped for a promotion before opting to exit instead) announced her departure, he and his team have “been working thoughtfully on how to evolve Atlantic Music Group into the future.”
Enter the mentioned “new dynamic structure,” which has from the outset included Elliot Grainge’s elevation to Atlantic Music Group CEO effective October 1st.
Apparently, though, the changes aren’t ending there. Per Kyncl, whose company previously made Atlantic-specific layoffs in February, the same unit “will unfortunately be forced to say goodbye to some truly talented people.”
The team-member cutback is being executed “in one go,” with the affected professionals receiving word of the unfortunate news on the day of the memo’s issuance, Kyncl indicated. At the time of this writing, none of the impacted persons appeared to have confirmed the news on LinkedIn, and the reduction’s precise extent is unclear.
As to where things go from here, it remains to be seen whether WMG’s exits and layoffs are finally finished – with evidence pointing to the possibility of additional shakeups.
In any event, the wider reorganization definitely isn’t done, as Grainge – the noted 10K Projects founder Elliot, not UMG head Lucian Grainge, that is – intends to make “an announcement about the leadership team” at Atlantic Music Group next week.
Bigger picture, time will tell exactly what the far-reaching changes mean for the company’s performance during 2025 and beyond. Related questions can also be asked about a growth-minded Universal Music (which has made layoffs of its own in 2024) and Sony Music (which will see Sony Music Nashville CEO Randy Goodman retire at yearend).
