With the new executive structure, BMG is bringing more resources to the US, new signings — and hiring, too

Here is the first change John Loba plans to do, in his new position as BMG's president of North American front-line recording: “Immediately strengthen the A&R team in LA”

So the Berlin-based music label is hiring? “Yes Yes!” Loba says by phone from the Detroit airport, near his hometown north of Grand Rapids, Mich. “News at 10”.

Loba, who has spent the past seven years grooming country superstars such as Jelly Roll, Parmalee, Lainey Wilson and Blanco Brown in his role as president of the Nashville label, will remain in Music City but expand into other genres and US cities. “BMG wanted to put more resources into the US and part of that was to focus even more on the front line, looking at the success we've had in Nashville,” says Loba, who plans to travel to Los Angeles every other week and to New York . sporadically. “The biggest challenge is keeping everyone patient.”

BMG announced the Loba move on Thursday morning (January 25) with a simultaneous for Thomas Scherer, who moves from current releases and recordings in Los Angeles and New York to head the worldwide recording catalog. The move effectively puts Loba in charge of new music and Scherer in charge of classics (while still handling publishing). CEO of BMG, Thomas Cosfeldhe took over the company last July and, Loba says, has moved away from the company's announcement in April 2023 that it would combine its frontline and catalog divisions.

“[Coesfeld] he's incredibly analytical and had a different take on the business,” says Loba, “and he felt that the catalog business could benefit from even more focus and separation a little bit.”

BMG, part of the Bertelsmann publishing empire, was previously a stand-alone company and then merged with major Sony Music Entertainment before demerging in 2007. It has since strengthened itself as a music company focused on publishing, acquiring or re- signed catalogs of artists from Paul Simon to Tina Turner and developed a recorded music division thanks in large part to its Nashville office. Loba joined the company in 2017 when BMG bought BBR Music Group — whose roster included stars Jason Aldean and Dustin Lynch — for $100 million.

Bertelsmann, which recently failed to acquire Simon & Schuster, has pledged to invest billions in its companies, giving it significant influence in a music industry dominated by the Big Three and smaller rivals such as Concord and HYBE. The company's music divisions will be concentrated in the United States and the United Kingdom, not so much at Bertelsmann's headquarters in Berlin. “We're in an absolutely beautiful place,” says Loba. “The roster allows for stability and for us to take risks on the front line. We have the resources and reach of the big three with the heart, tenacity and focus of an indie. There are few, if any, companies that have both.”

When Loba moves into his new position, effective immediately, he will begin expanding the label's ability to discover and sign new artists. “Internally, certainly, resources will be added. Our immediate focus is to assemble this world-class A&R team, removing, for the rest of the departments and staff, anything that is not productive, getting rid of red tape if there is any,” says Loba. “It's just a real landmark moment for BMG. It is our coming of age.”