Tom March has been named the new chairman/CEO of Capitol Music Group, and Lillia Parsa has been named co-president of the label group alongside co-president Arjun Pulijal, Interscope Geffen A&M chairman/CEO John Janick announced in a memo today (Feb. 7). The new leadership group was announced one day after previous CMG chair/CEO Michelle Jubelirer announced she was stepping down with immediate effect yesterday (Feb. 6).
March, who has spent the past two years as U.S. president of Geffen Records, becomes the fourth head of Capitol in the 2020s, after longtime label chief Steve Barnett retired at the end of 2020, then A&R veteran Jeff Vaughn led the label for less than a year before Jubelirer took over in December 2021. Prior to his stint at Geffen — which is the home to Olivia Rodrigo, and has a high-profile partnership with BTS and HYBE, among other artists — March was the co-president of Polydor Records in the U.K. for six years, where he helped develop Glass Animals and worked the Interscope roster in the U.K. In his new role, he’ll oversee Capitol Records, Blue Note Records, Motown Records, Astralwerks, Harvest Records and Capitol Christian Music Group, and report to Janick.
Parsa arrives at Capitol after six years at Universal Music Publishing Group, where she worked with the likes of recent best new artist Grammy nominees Ice Spice and Gracie Abrams, as well as Renee Rapp, Julia Michaels, Louis Bell, Omer Fedi and many more, with clients that worked on No. 1 Hot 100 songs like The Kid Laroi and Justin Bieber’s “Stay,” Lizzo’s “About Damn Time,” Ariana Grande’s “Positions” and more. Parsa will report to March and join Pulijal, who has been president of CMG since January 2022, as co-president. Both March and Parsa will be based at the Capitol Tower in Hollywood.
“I’ve worked closely with Tom for the better part of a decade, first as he looked after IGA repertoire in his role as co-president of Polydor in the U.K. and more recently in his position as president of Geffen,” Janick said in a statement. “He is a passionate and savvy executive who is a relentless advocate for artists and is committed to building successful executive teams. I know he will thrive in this important new role. Lillia is a gifted creative executive with very strong relationships throughout our business. I’ve personally gotten to know her over the years through artists we’ve signed together and via the amazing roster of songwriters she’s assembled at UMPG. I’m excited for her to take on this key position at Capitol, working alongside Arjun to continue to build a powerful platform for Capitol Music Group.”
These executive moves come amidst a broader restructuring happening at parent company Universal Music Group, which chairman/CEO Lucian Grainge announced in an internal memo last week. As part of that overhaul, Janick will now oversee Interscope, Geffen, Capitol, Motown, Priority, Verve and Blue Note, while Republic Records CEO Monte Lipman will oversee Republic, Def Jam, Island and Mercury. That memo also included a note that said, “In the coming weeks, John and Monte will be making further announcements about structure, resources and next-generation partnerships.” Jubelirer’s exit yesterday was the first exit since the announcement was made.
Jubelirer had been at Capitol for more than a decade, and had begun to turn around a recently-flagging label in her two years in charge: In 2023, Capitol racked up a 6.66% market share in the U.S., including a 5.90% current market share — which measures releases from the past 18 months — which was fifth among all labels for the full year. Both numbers were up significantly over her first year at the helm in 2022, when Capitol’s overall market share stood at 6.40% and current market share was 4.97%. That responsibility for the 80-year-old institution will now fall to March.
“I’m thrilled to be charged with leading Capitol Music Group,” March said in a statement. “The company’s deep legacy includes so many iconic artists and records that have long played important roles in my life, and the opportunity to help write CMG’s next chapter is a dream come true. I’m excited for Lillia to be joining me to define the creative direction of the company; she is spectacularly talented, and one of the most respected A&R executives in the business today.
“Together, we’ll work with Arjun and the brilliant CMG team to enhance the careers of artists on our current roster, as well of those who will be joining us in the future,” March continued. “John Janick and I have forged a great working relationship over the past decade, and it’s only become stronger with our amazing run at Geffen. That will absolutely intensify as we take CMG to the next level and share in even greater success together. I’m grateful to all of the artists at Geffen for their incredible music I’ve had the privilege to work on these past two years, and for the teams at Geffen and IGA who have been so supportive along the way.”
Capitol has a long history in the music business, having been the home of the Beatles, Bee Gees, ABBA, Beach Boys, Nat King Cole and many iconic artists, and more recently the label for Katy Perry, Sam Smith, Maggie Rogers, Lewis Capaldi, Niall Horan, Toosii, Queen Naija, Ice Spice, Kodak Black and many more. Having been under the EMI Music umbrella for decades, Capitol was sold to Universal Music in 2012 in a $1.9 billion deal, after which it became a standalone frontline music group until this month, when it was shifted under Janick’s purview.
“I’m excited to be working with Tom to write the next creative chapter for Capitol Music Group; to work with an array of artists that currently call CMG home, as well as those that will be joining us in the near future,” Parsa said in a statement. “I’m also looking forward to working alongside Arjun as co-president of a company with such an illustrious and ongoing legacy. I thank John Janick for this great opportunity, and my longtime mentor [UMPG Chairman & CEO] Jody Gerson for always supporting me and encouraging this next important step in my career.”
