Warner Music Shakes Up European Strategy With Regional Merger

Warner Music Group said connected Tuesday (Oct. 14) that it is revamping its Central European operations by merging its recorded euphony businesses successful Benelux (Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg) with those successful GSA (Germany, Switzerland and Austria), forming an expanded Warner Music Central Europe. 

This combined portion — the six countries signifier the third-largest recorded euphony marketplace globally, according to IFPI commercialized gross information — volition beryllium led by Niels Walboomers, who has overseen WMG’s Benelux operations since 2023. He’ll study to Simon Robson, president of EMEA, recorded music, and divided his clip betwixt Amsterdam, Berlin and Hamburg. Supporting Walboomers is Markus Holzherr, who carries connected arsenic main concern officer, a relation helium has held for 3 years.

The enactment modulation coincides the departure of co-presidents Doreen Schimk and Fabian Drebes, who permission aft 4 years successful those roles and decades of work astatine Warner Music Central Europe. They cited their achievements specified arsenic launching a originative hub successful Berlin and dominating the German charts successful 2024.

“Every time present mattered,” Schimk and Drebes said. “The tone of this squad powered each success, and Warner Music volition ever clasp a spot successful our hearts.  As we manus implicit leadership, we’re assured the expanded portion is good placed for its adjacent section nether Niels Walboomers and the absorption team.”

The merger reflects the similarities betwixt the Benelux and GSA euphony markets, including beardown home hip-hop scenes, export-driven creation genres and like-minded audiences for planetary popular and rock. Warner said it aims to streamline operations, fortify creator improvement and foster cross-border collaboration by bringing these territories nether 1 unified structure.

Walboomers expressed excitement astir starring the supersized portion and praised some the Benelux and GSA teams for their contributions. “The recently combined value of these six countries marque this 1 of the astir influential territories successful the Warner Music ecosystem, and by focusing that powerfulness successful caller and imaginative ways, we’ll make bigger and much dynamic possibilities for our artists,” helium said.

Robson added that this “bold step” to consolidate “helps futureproof our European operations, opening up caller pathways to planetary superstardom. Together, Niels – a committed, artist-first person – and Markus – a CBO with heavy expertise – marque a almighty duo to thrust our adjacent signifier of growth.”

On the publishing front, WMG noted that Natascha Augustin volition proceed arsenic managing manager of Warner Chappell Music Germany, reporting to WCM main Guy Moot.