Warner Music Shakeup Continues With Kevin Liles Exit

(l to r) Julie Greenwald, Kevin Liles, and Max Lousada, all three of whom are exiting Warner Music Group. Photo Credit: WMG

Warner Music Group’s sweeping shakeup isn’t finished yet, as 300 Elektra Entertainment chairman and CEO Kevin Liles has announced his imminent exit.

The 300 Entertainment co-founder disclosed the news in a memo that, while first circulated in-house, promptly made an external splash. Marking the latest in a line of executive shakeups at Robert Kyncl-led WMG, Liles’ departure has arrived less than three years after the major label scooped up 300 for a reported $400 million.

Then, June of 2022 brought the formal launch of 300 Elektra Entertainment, encompassing the still-distinct namesake labels as well as Fueled by Ramen, DTA, and multiple others, under Liles. Now, a new leadership structure is in the cards for the label group, the outgoing higher-up indicated in the mentioned memo.

“At the end of this month,” reads the relevant portion of that lengthy memo, “I’ll be stepping aside and departing WMG, although to ensure a successful transition, I’ll continue to consult with the team through the end of the year.”

And while Liles didn’t dive into the precise reasons for the departure, he did touch on the perceived need to empower “the next generation of leaders” and “pass the torch” at the appropriate time.

Evidently, that time is now for Liles, with 300 co-presidents Rayna Bass and Selim Bouab poised to take “their turn to lead our 300 team into the next decade of excellence.” At the time of publishing, the two didn’t appear to have addressed the development via an official release.

But in many ways, the reorganization writing has perhaps been on the wall at WMG and 300 Elektra – and this doesn’t solely refer to the August of 2024 restructuring that set in motion the exits of Max Lousada as well as Julie Greenwald.

To be sure, the final five or so months of 2023 alone delivered the promotion of 300 and 300 Elektra higher-ups Aimie Vaughan-Früehe (EVP and head of promotion and streaming), Lallie Jones (marketing VP), and Josh D’Amore (SVP of digital and streaming).

Closer to the present, 2024 began with a painful downsizing at WMG (affecting Atlantic and more), before April saw the major offload Uproxx and HipHopDX. Subsequently, July of 2024 ushered in the start of a publishing JV between 300 Publishing and Warner Chappell.

From here, it’ll be worth keeping an eye out for further leadership changes across WMG – and possible stock sales from Liles. Ahead of his own planned departure, also scheduled for September 30th, Lousada has sold tens of millions of dollars in company stock.

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