Warner Music is restructuring its Mexican music division to strengthen its market presence and product quality, the label tells Billboard. The revamped division will feature a culturally attuned A&R team and a strategic marketing framework designed to promote artist development across multiple territories.
The initiative will be led by Tomas Rodríguez, president of Warner Music Mexico & Mexican Music, who will be spearheading the restructured division from Mexico. “The expertise, adaptability, and market acumen of the Mexican Music team will bolster our vision for the genre’s development and globalization, cementing Warner as a protagonist,” he said in a statement.
Rubén Abraham, Warner Music’s GM of Mexican music, will oversee the A&R and marketing teams from Los Angeles, aligning strategies across the United States and Mexico. “We’re primed to offer the industry’s premier platform for the genre, supported by top-notch professionals and tailored negotiation options that cater to both present needs and future prospects of Mexican Music,” he said.
The division’s A&R team will include Brian Plascencia as director of A&R. Plascencia brings extensive experience from previous roles at Universal Music and Univision Records and as a West Coast label manager at Machete Music, where he was instrumental in launching artists such as Larry Hernandez, Fidel Rueda, El Potro de Sinaloa and Roberto Tapia. As a founding partner at Alianza Records, Plascencia has also developed artists like Grupo H-100 and Edicion Especial.
Elsewhere, the A&R team will include associate director of A&R Armando López, who brings over a decade of expertise in marketing, musical production and concert promotion. Cesar Carrillo has been appointed senior manager of A&R, with an 18-year track record in the regional Mexican music scene. His experience spans music production, artist management for acts like Tomas Ballardo and Los Buitres de Culiacán and booking for Legado 7 with Lumbre Music. AT FM Entertainment, he assisted in managing schedules for música mexicana giants such as Ramón Ayala, Banda Machos and Fidel Rueda.
María Angela Batiz, the label’s director of marketing for Mexican music, will continue to play a crucial role with her extensive experience and expertise in the genre, leading the development of marketing strategies and campaigns across the department.
Warner Music’s expansion in Mexican music is supported by its collaboration with the company’s independent distribution and label services arm ADA, enabling a range of services and partnership opportunities.
Warner Music’s Mexican music roster also includes Grupo Codiciado, El Komander, Pesado, DannyLux and Los Aptos.
