Ed St John, one of the most powerful people in the Australian music industry, appears to have found himself dropped by his label. The long term executive at Warner Music Australia was elevated to the CEO position in 2005 after a period as managing director of BMG Australasia. It is understood that clouds had been gathering around his position for some time and that it came to a head in an emergency meeting on Friday. Speculation is rife that he rubbed up the managers of several international acts the wrong way, while it probably didn’t help that the company lost almost $6 million last financial year after seeing sales plummet $14 million. It is also rumoured that his position will be filled by an exec from the UK. Warners have gone to ground on the issue, and have apparently ordered staff not to speak to the media. Anyone know a bit more about what happened? Do what all the good Tone Deaf moles do and drop us a line confidentially at [email protected]
Update 8pm 6 September
Warners have issued a statement invoking the good ‘ol ‘stepping down … to explore other opportunities outside the company’ chestnut. Make of that what you will. Apparently an interim management team has been put in place. The statement reads:
“Ed St John is stepping down as President and CEO in order to explore new opportunities outside the company.
‘We thank Ed for all his hard work in helping to steer Warner Music Australia through a challenging period of transformation. He has worked with some of the biggest names in music – both Australian and International – and his knowledge and experience of the business has been a great asset. We wish him well in his future endeavours.’ – Lachie Rutherford, President, Warner Music Asia Pacific.”
