WMG remixes digital execs

Zubillaga paves way for Nash (no, not Kate)

Warner Music Group (WMG) today confirmed that Michael Nash will replace Alejandro Zubillaga as the firm’s new digital strategy and business development VP.

The leadership shake-up was agreed by mutual consent, with Zubillaga - who is WMG chairman and CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr's brother-in-law - expected to step down on 1 June to help ease transition.

Venture capitalist Zubillaga said in a statement that he plans to return to his entrepreneurial roots.

Nash, who has worked at WMG as a digital exec for eight years, will head up the company’s worldwide digital strategy, which will include beefing up its internet and mobile commerce as well as aggressively pursuing new music-based products and services.

Over the past year the music industry has been forced to rethink its traditional business model in the face of a broad decline in sales of CDs as consumers increasingly flock to free MP3 downloads.

Bronfman admitted in December that the past year had been “a challenging year for the recorded music industry”. He said at the time that there was plenty of work left to be done to turn fortunes around.

However, despite painful introspection about the fall in CD sales, WMG was somewhat boosted by the digital arm of its biz towards the end of last year. It saw last quarter results in that unit of $141m, or 14 per cent of total group revenue. ®