WMG Names Chief Innovation Officer

• Scott Cohen has joined Warner Music Group (WMG) in the newly created position of Chief Innovation Officer, Recorded Music. Cohen, who co-founded pioneering digital music, film & video distribution company The Orchard, reports to Max Lousada, WMG’s CEO, Recorded Music. In his new post, Cohen will work closely with Lousada and other members of Warner’s senior management team to help chart the long-term course of the company at the intersection of music, technology, and culture.

Lousada said, “Scott spots and champions emerging technology with the same level of passion, creativity and ambition that our A&Rs bring to artist development. A valuable addition to our senior team, he’ll be an amazing brand ambassador and thought leader, who joins a great lineage of maverick entrepreneurs at Warner.”

Cohen remarked, “It’s no longer enough for entertainment companies to merely embrace change, they need to create the future themselves. What attracted me to Warner was the sense that Max and his team are building an environment where truly original, disruptive ideas can flourish. As the independent major, Warner Music is uniquely positioned to take an agile but principled approach to growing the universe of opportunity for music.”

Cohen began his music career in the late ’80s in independent and major label artist management. In 1997, Cohen and Richard Gottehrer (co-founder of WMG’s Sire Records) launched The Orchard on New York’s Lower East Side to provide independent artists the ability to sell their music to mainstream audiences. In subsequent years, The Orchard expanded into video, music licensing, marketing & analytics, royalty collections, sports media and other arenas. Two decades later, The Orchard is now owned by Sony Music and has operations in 40 global territories.