Rob Stringer
Chairman, Sony Music Group
Dennis Kooker
President, global digital business,
Sony Music Entertainment
Kevin Kelleher
COO, Sony Music Entertainment
Julie Swidler
Executive vp business affairs/general counsel,
Sony Music Entertainment
Tom Mackay
President, premium content, Sony Music Entertainment
On Aug. 1, 2019, Stringer rose to the role of chairman
of the newly created Sony Music Group, which com-
prises the recorded-music operations of Sony Music
Entertainment as well as Sony/ATV Music Publishing,
which is run by newly appointed chairman/CEO Jon
Platt (see page 118). “The ‘one Sony’ concept is becom-
ing a reality,” says Stringer, who detailed the com-
pany’s successes in a year-end letter to his staff. “Our
creative and business strategy this year was as wide,
dynamic and complex as any year in our history,” he
wrote. As the past year ended, “Old Town Road” by
Columbia Records artist Lil Nas X, featuring Billy Ray
Cyrus, ranked at No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 Songs
recap for 2019. Spotify identified Sony/ATV song-
writer Ed Sheeran as its fourth-most-streamed artist
of the past year, while “Señorita” by Epic/SYCO artist
Camila Cabello and Island Records’ Shawn Mendes
was Spotify’s top-streamed song. And Mariah Carey’s
“All I Want for Christmas Is You” finally hit No. 1 on
the Billboard Hot 100, 25 years after its release. Sony’s
global artist roster grew by 30% in 2019, according to
the company; notable signings include Latin superstar
Ozuna and, in South Korea, Daniel Kang. (Platt drew
Rihanna to Sony/ATV’s roster of superstar writers.)
Stringer oversaw business moves that included the re-
launch of Arista Records in 2018; further investment in
artist services through The Orchard, Sony’s indepen-
dent distribution division; the launch of a podcasting
initiative as a new source of revenue; and the creation
of a more transparent artist-royalty system. For artists
and for the industry, says Stringer, “we always will try
to do the right thing — first.”
80 BILLBOARD • JANUARY 25, 2020
GROOMING^BYLAURACOSTAAT^EXCLUSIVE^ARTISTS2
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