Warner Music Group has lured a senior executive over from Sony to head up its business development team.
MBW understands that Ole Obermann – who has been with Sony for a decade – is joining WMG as EVP of Biz Dev, and will report into CEO Stephen Cooper.
Ole Obermann will move from London to New York to take up the role, with a start date yet to be confirmed.
As part of his role, Obermann will be tasked with maintaining and improving relationships with existing digital partners, as well as striking new licensing deals.
Interestingly, his appointment comes as Warner – alongside its fellow majors – is set to enter a fraught licensing renegotiation period with YouTube in the coming months.
Obermann was Executive Vice President of Digital Partner Development and Sales at Sony Music Entertainment.
Previously, he was SVP of international at SME, which he joined in 2006 after working with Liquid Digital Media, Walmart.com and McKinsey and Company.
A Warner Music Group spokesperson declined to comment when contacted by MBW.
The news of Obermann’s arrival comes nine months after Universal poached Warner’s top-tier adviser, Michael Nash, to head up its digital activity worldwide.
Ron Wilcox, who has recently overseen business development at WMG, will return to concentrating on his business affairs role.
The respected exec probably has enough on his plate – Wilcox’s official role is Executive Counsel, Business Affairs, Strategic and Digital Initiatives at Warner.Music Business Worldwide
