Maria Weaver Named Pres. Of WEA
• Warner Music Group (WMG) has named Maria Weaver as the new President of WEA, Warner Recorded Music’s global artist and label services network. Ms. Weaver was most recently Senior Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer at Comcast Advertising and previously held senior marketing and creative services posts at Interactive One, HBO and Showtime.
In her new WMG role, Weaver will oversee the array of expertise and resources under the WEA umbrella, including streaming account management & playlisting, direct-to-fan and merchandising operations, consumer acquisition, content creation, legal & business affairs, and finance. She will also lead the growth of Warner’s network of owned-and-operated consumer brands: EMP, the merchandising e-tailer; HipHopDX, the music news site; Songkick, the live music app; and UPROXX, the youth culture website, among other digital destinations.
Weaver will be based in New York and report to Max Lousada, Global CEO of Recorded Music for WMG, who remarked, “As both art and entertainment, music has an unparalleled power to ignite passion, inspire loyalty, and attract audiences, consumers, and fans. In this attention economy, WEA is the global backbone that connects and strengthens almost all aspects of our artist development and creative marketing strategies. A multimedia innovator, Maria comes to us with three decades of wide-ranging leadership experience. She’ll be a catalyst for change, helping us to redefine our artist and label services as a unified global platform for talent, and to put our artists at the center of a whole universe of possibility.”
Commenting on her new WEA opportunity, Weaver said, “Throughout my time in the TV, film, and cable worlds, I’ve seen how music is one of the most powerful drivers of consumer excitement and demand. The lines between visual and audio media are more blurred than ever, and I’m impressed by Warner’s progressive approach to expanding music’s reach and influence across global platforms. I want to thank Max for this wonderful new opportunity, and I’m looking forward to working with the teams at WEA, EMP, HipHopDX, Songkick, and UPROXX to pioneer the future of music on behalf of our artists, labels, and brands.”
Weaver joined Comcast Spotlight in 2016 as SVP of Marketing, playing a pivotal role in launching several key initiatives, including leading the marketing team’s restructure, and the launch of award-winning brand campaigns. This year, Weaver launched Comcast RISE, which provides millions of dollars in grants, media, and technology to Black-owned small businesses impacted by COVID. Prior to Comcast, Weaver was one of the founders of Interactive One, the digital division of Urban One. She was also the co-founder of Triple Threat Films, and previously held various senior marketing and creative services roles at HBO.
