Dave Rocco has been named chief creative officer at Republic Records, a newly-created role. His hire was announced today by label founders Monte Lipman and Avery Lipman.
Based in New York, Rocco joins Republic (which recently topped Billboard’s year-end label rankings) from its parent company Universal Music Group, where he served as executive vp creative since 2018. During his time there, he collaborated with various UMG labels and artists on development, artist narrative and creative.
Rocco came to UMG from Spotify, where he ascended to global head of artist and label partnerships. His prior experience includes roles at Deutsch, BBDO, Epic Records and Atlantic Records. He kicked off his music industry career at age 15 with a stint at New York top 40 station Z100.
“In many ways, Dave is an artist trapped in an executive’s body,” said Monte Lipman in a statement. “He’s an amazing storyteller with a vivid imagination and an ability to break boundaries and completely rewrite the rules. He brings an inimitable spirit to the table. I am thrilled to have him join our team.”
“I have tremendous respect for the Republic team and their world-class acts and couldn’t be more excited for what’s to come,” Rocco added. “Monte and Avery’s desire to expand the value of a music company is inspiring, and I’m thrilled to work with them, and the new leadership team of Jim Roppo, and Wendy Goldstein to facilitate this vision.”
Rocco was named to Billboard’s Power 100 list in 2019 while working at UMG.
