Warner Ups Perez-Soto To Pres., Emerging Mkts

• Alfonso Perez-Soto has been named as President, Emerging Markets at Warner Recorded Music. His territory includes sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, India and South Asia, the Eastern Mediterranean and Eastern Europe, home to about 3.2 billion people — some 40 percent of the world’s population.

Warner Music will be stepping up its A&R presence in these markets through a combination of direct signings and key label partnerships.  This strategy has already seen a number of significant moves over the last decade, including the opening of Warner Music affiliates in South Africa (2013), the Middle East (2018), Turkey (2020) and India (2020); the integration of EMI affiliates in key Eastern European markets (2013) and the acquisition of Polskie Nagrania (2015); as well as a string of strategic deals with business partners including Chocolate City (2019), Doğan Music (2020), Africori (2020), Ziiki Media (2020) and Tips and Sky Digital (2021).

Perez-Soto reports to Simon Robson (left), President, International at Warner Recorded Music, who remarked, “Alfonso is a force of nature who will always go the extra mile for our artists and seizes exciting and innovative opportunities. The increasing connectivity of music fans in emerging markets is opening doors for artists worldwide, but the huge volume of music on streaming services means that, more than ever, they need a partner who can help them cut through and find an audience. We believe that these markets are set to be ever more culturally influential as the music market becomes more global in the years to come.”

Perez-Soto joined the company in 2005 as VP of Business Development for Latin America and U.S. Hispanic Markets, while later serving as SVP, Business Development and Chief Commercial Officer for Emerging Markets. In 2018, he was named as EVP, Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa. Earlier in his career, Perez-Soto held senior roles at Nokia, Telefonica and Universal Music Group.

“I’m super proud to take on this new role and truly excited by its scope,” said Perez-Soto, adding, “I want to unlock huge opportunities for artists from the diverse tapestry of countries that we classify as emerging markets. I’ll work round the clock to build a global stage for them to stand on, connecting them with fans in their home countries and far beyond. We want to be the partner of choice for every ambitious artist and label from Gdansk to Cape Town, from Dakar to Dhaka.”