Warner Music Promotes Kevin Gore to President of Global Catalog Division
Warner Music Group has promoted record industry veteran Kevin Gore to president, global catalog, recorded music.
Warner Music Group has promoted record industry veteran Kevin Gore to president, global catalog, recorded music. He replaces Tim Fraser-Harding, who is leaving the company. Gore has been president of the label’s Arts Music division since its launch in June 2017.
The news comes less than two months after Gore’s Arts Music acquired First Night Records, one of the U.K.’s leading labels specializing in West End and Broadway musical theater cast recordings.
Gore’s appointment was announced Wednesday in a memo to staff from Max Lousada, CEO of recorded music, who noted “Kevin’s most recent successes tell you a lot about why he was chosen for this important role. Just two years ago, he launched Arts Music, building a dynamic new division from the ground up. He’s done it through organic A&R, inventive label partnerships, and the impressive acquisition of First Night Records.”
The NYC-based Gore knows quite a bit about catalog music, having spent 12 years at WMG’s reissue specialist Rhino Entertainment. He joined Rhino in 2002 as executive vp, sales and marketing and was promoted to evp/general manager in 2006. In 2010, Warners elevated Gore to president and CEO of the influential division. He left in 2014 for a three-year stint as president and chief operating officer of DMI Music & Media Solutions, a marketing firm founded by Tena Clark.
Prior to Rhino, Gore worked for four years as president of UMG’s Universal Classics Group. He spent most of the 1990s as a vp of jazz promotion at Columbia Records.
“It’s that mix of ambitious entrepreneurialism and creative expertise that makes Kevin the ideal exec to pioneer new opportunities for our stars and legends,” Lousada added in his memo, which was shared with Billboard. “He understands how to curate and contextualize music so it cuts through the noise, no matter its genre or history. And, he already has strong relationships with many of our legendary artists and their teams, having previously led our catalog business into the streaming age.”
Gore will continue to lead WMG’s Arts Music, focusing on signing, developing and marketing releases across classical, musical theatre, jazz, children’s music and film scores.
Fraser-Harding departs after seven years at WMG, five of those as head of the catalog team. Prior to that the London-based exec spent more than 16 years at Sony Music in various catalog-centric roles.
“Over the past five years, Tim has led our Catalog team with passion and integrity,” remarked Lousada. “He’s helped champion our ‘always on’ approach to marketing our artists and their legacies, and spearheaded many successful projects, including major reissues from Led Zeppelin, David Bowie, and Phil Collins.”
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