CMG Names March Chair/CEO, & Parsa Co-Pres.
• Tom March has been appointed Chairman & CEO of Capitol Music Group (CMG), it was announced today by Interscope Geffen A&M Records (IGA) Chairman & CEO John Janick, to whom March reports. In his new position, March, most recently President of Geffen Records, is responsible for the overall management and direction of the company, which encompasses Capitol Records, Blue Note Records, Motown Records, Astralwerks, Harvest Records and Capitol Christian Music Group. March succeeds Michelle Jubelirer, who left the company yesterday.
Concurrently, Janick has appointed Lillia Parsa as Co-President of CMG, joining Co-President Arjun Pulijal, who will continue to focus on the company’s artist development efforts. Parsa was most recently SVP of A&R at Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), based in New York, having joined the company in 2018. Parsa will work closely with March in planning the company’s creative direction and future growth, including the pursuit and nurturing of partnerships with artist and executive entrepreneurs to broaden and strengthen CMG’s connections within the creative community.
Janick said of March, “I’ve worked closely with Tom for the better part of a decade, first as he looked after IGA repertoire in his role as co-President of Polydor in the UK and more recently in his position as President of Geffen. He is a passionate and savvy executive who is a relentless advocate for artists and is committed to building successful executive teams. I know he will thrive in this important new role.
Speaking of Parsa, Janick said, “Lillia is a gifted creative executive with very strong relationships throughout our business. I’ve personally gotten to know her over the years through artists we’ve signed together and via the amazing roster of songwriters she’s assembled at UMPG. I’m excited for her to take on this key position at Capitol, working alongside Arjun to continue to build a powerful platform for Capitol Music Group.”
March has served as President of Geffen Records for the past two years, coming off a six-year run as co-President of London-based Polydor Records and nearly twenty years total within the UMG global system. March remarked, “I’m thrilled to be charged with leading Capitol Music Group. The company’s deep legacy includes so many iconic artists and records that have long played important roles in my life, and the opportunity to help write CMG’s next chapter is a dream come true. I’m excited for Lillia to be joining me to define the creative direction of the company; she is spectacularly talented, and one of the most respected A&R executives in the business today.” March added, “Together, we’ll work with Arjun and the brilliant CMG team to enhance the careers of artists on our current roster, as well of those who will be joining us in the future. John Janick and I have forged a great working relationship over the past decade, and it’s only become stronger with our amazing run at Geffen. That will absolutely intensify as we take CMG to the next level and share in even greater success together. I’m grateful to all of the artists at Geffen for their incredible music I’ve had the privilege to work on these past two years, and for the teams at Geffen and IGA who have been so supportive along the way.”
Parsa stated, “I’m excited to be working with Tom to write the next creative chapter for Capitol Music Group; to work with an array of artists that currently call CMG home, as well as those that will be joining us in the near future. I’m also looking forward to working alongside Arjun as co-president of a company with such an illustrious and ongoing legacy. I thank John Janick for this great opportunity, and my longtime mentor [UMPG Chairman & CEO] Jody Gerson for always supporting me and encouraging this next important step in my career.”
Both March and Parsa will be based at the Capitol Tower in Hollywood. [March photo: Leo Cackett / Parsa photo: Abigail Ross]
