Virgin Music Group announced the members of its global leadership team on Thursday (Oct. 19).
The executives’ responsibilities are split across five regions. Jacqueline Saturn will serve as president of Virgin Music Group North America/executive vp of global artist relations; Thomas Lorain and Nick Roden will be co-presidents in Europe; and Victor Gonzales has been named president in Latin America and the Iberian Peninsula, with Cris Garcia Falcão working as MD of label and artist strategy/GM of Virgin Music Group Latin.
In Australia and New Zealand, Nathan McLay will assume the role of MD — working with Tim Janes as MD of global marketing for Virgin Music Group Australia — and Michael Roe will take the position of MD in Africa, Middle East and Asia (AMEA).
“It is an enormously exciting time to be working in the independent sector of our business,” JT Myers, co-CEO of Virgin Music Group, said in a statement. “In today’s market,” he added, “visionary music entrepreneurs can be successful on a global scale if they have the right team and infrastructure to empower them.”
In addition to announcing regional leaders, Virgin named Jay Blomquist as chief technology officer, Jeremy Kramer as execugtive vp of global marketing, Joy Larocca as executive vp/CFO, Liz Morentin as senior vp of global communications and brand strategy, Matt Sawin as head of global product strategy and operations, Nina Rabe-Cairns as head of global growth strategy and Zack Gershen as executive vp of global commercial and digital strategy.
The appointments are the latest step in a consolidation process for Universal Music Group’s various artist services outfits. In September 2022, the company lumped together Virgin Music Label and Artist Services, Ingrooves Music Group and the newly acquired mtheory Artist Partnerships into a new entity, Virgin Music Group — of which mtheory’s founders, Myers and Nat Pastor, were appointed co-CEOs.
“mtheory was founded on the idea that we could transform the music industry by offering better, more aligned partnerships with artists,” Myers said last year. “By bringing these incredible global teams and resources together, we have the opportunity to turbo-charge that vision, and deliver even more value to artists, labels and music entrepreneurs.”
Warner Music previously combined its Independent Label Group and Alternative Distribution Alliance (ADA) under one roof in 2012. Sony Music merged The Orchard and RED under the Orchard brand in 2017.
