Surging BMG Re-Ups Scherer & Loba
• BMG announced it has re-upped its two U.S. repertoire leads — Los Angeles-based Thomas Scherer (left), President, Repertoire & Marketing, Los Angeles and New York; and Nashville-based Jon Loba (right), President, BMG Nashville, as the company reports its U.S. revenues are up nearly one third on pre-pandemic levels. Scherer and Loba’s repertoire operations account for around half of BMG’s global revenues. They will continue to work hand-in-hand with CFO U.S. Joe Gillen.
Loba will also now add publishing to his established Nashville label responsibilities, becoming the only major music executive in Nashville to hold dual leadership responsibilities of both areas of the business, while Scherer will take the lead on U.S. rights acquisition in addition to his responsibilities for BMG’s L.A. and New York-based repertoire operations.
BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said, “BMG is on a roll in the U.S. and it’s thanks in no small part to the work of Thomas and Jon. Jon has created a label powerhouse in Nashville with Jason Aldean, Dustin Lynch, Jimmie Allen, Lainey Wilson, and Jelly Roll, so it makes sense to extend his scope to our Nashville music publishing operation. Meanwhile, Thomas is delivering significant double-digit growth at BMG’s core U.S. publishing business with writers like George Harrison, Juice WRLD, D’Mile, Diane Warren, and Lewis Capaldi while also building our recordings interests with key signings like 5 Seconds of Summer, AJR, Maxwell, Slash, Bryan Adams, and the recent acquisitions of the Mötley Crüe and John Legend catalogs. Thanks to their teams we remain the only credible global partner for artists and songwriters outside the three majors.”
This news comes as BMG plans to finally open its new Los Angeles office at 5670 Wilshire Blvd. this Wed., May 3, after an 18-month delay caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Scherer said, “It’s been strange to have a brand-new office which we couldn’t even use because of COVID-19, but that hasn’t slowed us down. We’ve had one of the most intensive periods of growth in the U.S. since BMG began. But it’s great now to be able to host people in our very own space, doing what we do best, serving artists and songwriters.” [Photo courtesy of BMG]
