Robert Kyncl Latest Celebrity News & Gossip

Universal Music Group and Google have started to discuss the prospect of officially licensing artists' voices for deepfakes, the Financial Times reports. Both parties reportedly hope to develop a tool that would allow the public to create their own officially licensed deepfakes. Presently, deepfakes are trained on machine learning programs to imitate the voices of singers without authorization; the phenomenon broke into public view with the April release of "heart on my sleeve," a song created with generated versions of Drake's and the Weeknd's voices.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music The U.S. recorded music industry grew its revenue by 8% in 2023, reaching an all-time high of $17.1 billion and marking eight consecutive years of growth. However, there’s no question that the streaming boom of the past decade, which produced years of double-digit growth, is leveling off and the industry is reacting with layoffs and talk of a “transformational moment” in the months and years to come.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor YouTube is laying off about 100 employees and is restructuring some of its operations. The cuts at the internet video giant were announced in a memo to staffers Wednesday from Mary Ellen Coe, YouTube’s chief business officer. The roughly 100 jobs eliminated represent about 1.4% of YouTube’s nearly 7,200 headcount.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music As streaming has returned the music industry to health over the past decade, with year after year of growth, people have not wanted to admit that, since the pandemic, that growth has slowed down significantly. While we saw double-digit revenue increases for several years in the latter half of the 2010s, the average number of subscriptions through the first six months of 2023 grew just 6% to 95.8 million , compared with a growth of 10% to 90 million for the first half of 2022, according to the RIAA.

YouTube is working on a new AI tool that would allow users to create videos that use the voices of well-known musicians.Billboard reported that the company is currently in talks with record labels to negotiate permission for the use of artists’ intellectual property.If it goes ahead, the beta version of the tool would allow a “select group of creators” to use the voices of the artists that agree to participate to create new video content on the platform.However, it is reported that conversations between YouTube and record labels are taking longer than expected. YouTube had intended to unveil the tool at their ‘Made on YouTube’ event in September, but that did not happen.Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group are some of the major labels that are currently in talks over voice rights for the beta version, although it is expected that any wider launch of the tool would require a new set of legal agreements.UMG CEO Lucian Grainge has said that the new technology could “amplify human imagination and enrich musical creativity in extraordinary new ways.”Robert Kyncl, the CEO of Warner Music Group said, “You have to embrace the technology, because it’s not like you can put technology in a bottle.”It is thought that many major artists are resistant to allowing their voices to be used, and Billboard reports that there remain questions about how artists would be paid for the new content that the tool would create.This week (October 18), music publishers including Universal Music Group Publishing, Concord Music Group and ABKCO sued an Amazon-backed AI company over alleged copyright infringement.

Mary Ellen Coe was installed as YouTube‘s Chief Business Officer last fall, just as the activity level at the company was beginning to surge even by the breakneck standards of a startup-turned-digital-behemoth.

Jem Aswad Executive Editor, Music After a couple of sub-optimal quarters, Warner Music Group posted strong results on Tuesday morning, giving the company’s stock a healthy 5% bump following the announcement. The company’s stock rose as high as $33.29.

Ellise Shafer Warner Music Group and TikTok have announced a first-of-its-kind partnership to expand the licensing agreement of Warner Recorded Music and Warner Chappell Music to TikTok, TikTok Music, CapCut and TikTok’s Commercial Music Library. The multi-year, multi-product deal will “expand the level of partnership, collaboration and innovation between the two companies,” according to a press release. “It will create new revenue, marketing and insights opportunities for WMG’s artists and songwriters, while deepening the engagement with TikTok’s huge audience of passionate music fans.” It also includes a licensing deal for TikTok Music — the app’s newly launched streaming service that is now only available in Brazil and Indonesia, but has plans for growth in other markets — and CapCut, TikTok’s video-editing sister app.

Thania Garcia Brandi Carlile will be honored with the Songwriter Icon award by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) as part of the organization’s annual meeting at Lincoln Center’s Alice Tully Hall on June 14. “Brandi Carlile is in a class of her own,” said NMPA President and CEO David Israelite in a statement. “A critical success who has become a cultural and commercial force, she consistently has delivered stunning lyrics and vocals that cut to the heart of the human experience. We are thrilled to celebrate what she has given and continues to give to the craft of songwriting.” The first-ever NMPA Non-Performing Songwriter Icon award will be presented to country hitmaker Ashley Gorley and RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier will be presented with the NMPA Industry Legacy award. Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl will deliver a keynote conversation on the “value of music and the ever-evolving opportunities for songwriters, artists, and creators” in the context of streaming and artificial intelligence.

Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl has echoed comments by his Universal counterpart Lucian Grainge on the need to restructure the way streaming royalties are paid out. Speaking on the major label’s Q2 earning’s call yesterday, he said that “it can’t be that [an] Ed Sheeran stream is worth exactly the same thing than a stream of rain falling on the roof”.The former YouTube exec’s comments came as he announced disappointing results for the record label, with revenues showing almost no growth year-on-year.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor New Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl faced a light release schedule during his first two quarters in office and has promised not to candy-coat the results. Although the company’s revenue was up 4% and its publishing division posted a strong quarter, the company is just beginning to emerge from that thin stretch of releases with strong performances from three recent albums from its Atlantic Records division, from Ed Sheeran, Jack Harlow and Tiesto. As he did in his first earnings call, Kyncl nodded to that situation and then looked ahead to a robust release schedule for the remainder of 2023, with upcoming releases from Dua Lipa, David Guetta, Lil Uzi Vert, Burna Boy, Kelly Clarkson, Tiago PZK, Bailey Zimmerman, and others. “I’m very confident in the path forward, as we combine creative and marketing excellence with tech innovation to propel our growth,” he said.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Warner Music Group will eliminate 270 positions as part of a wider evolution of the company, new CEO Robert Kyncl announced to the company’s staff in an email obtained by K In order “to take advantage of the opportunities ahead of us, we need to make some hard choices in order to evolve,” according to the memo. It was not immediately clear which positions or divisions will be affected. Warner is the world’s third-largest music company and includes the labels Atlantic, Warner, 300-Elektra, Parlophone, the reissue division Rhino and others, as well as Warner Chappell Music publishing. Kyncl was announced as the new CEO last September and in February took over for Steve Cooper, who left the company after 11 years. Kyncl, who for years had bridged the tech and entertainment worlds in major roles at Netflix — including overseeing the company’s shift to streaming — and YouTube, in which he was pivotal in repairing the streaming giant’s formerly contentious relationships with music companies. His unexpected move into the top position at Warner ushers in a new kind of tech-forward leadership at major labels.

according to the trade body IFPI.In addition, sales of physical formats rose by 4%, generating $4.6bn (£3.7bn) in revenues. Almost half of that figure (49.8%) came from Asia, where buying CDs and vinyl as souvenirs is a staple of the “idol” culture of Japan and South Korea.Performance royalties also rose by 8.6% to $2.5bn (£2.04bn), surpassing pre-pandemic levels.However, record labels are pushing for prices to rise to increase the industry’s income from streaming services.

Thania Garcia Anitta and her label Warner Records have long been involved in a public dispute over the Brazillian pop star’s desire to have her contract terminated, but the dispute has grown increasingly hard to ignore in the past few weeks, as she has taken her issues directly to fans on social media. On March 8, Anitta uploaded a series of explainers to her Instagram story that started with a repost of the label’s use of her image for a post in celebration of International Women’s Day. The singer has been expressing her anger both on Instagram, where she posts in English, and Twitter, where she uses Portuguese. “Communication at Warner is so good that [they’re] posting me on a Happy women’s day looping post, even tho I had to go public to ask for the ‘woman respect’ that this date represents,” the singer wrote in her first post, saying the Warner post was “using [as] background the song they said would never break without a feat cuz I wasn’t strong enough for that.” The reference was to “Envolver,” a major hit in many markets in 2022, with Anitta alleging the label didn’t believe her own star power was sufficient without a feature from a bigger guest artist.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Over the past couple of years, virtually every conversation about the challenges facing artists in the music-streaming economy has had one proposed quick fix: Raise subscription prices. As Milana Lewis, CEO of the distribution and payments platform Stem, told Variety last summer, “The price of everything else on earth is going up, and they all keep finding new ways to make subscriptions cheaper” via family and student plans, bundling and other initiatives. Apple Music, Amazon Music and Deezer have already done so, but others remain with the same $10 U.S. monthly price as when they started. New Warner Music CEO Robert Kyncl brings a view from the other side to the top of the music industry: He was head of business for YouTube — where he led a sea change in the streaming giant’s relationship with the music industry by, guess what, introducing a paid music subscription service — and at Netflix, where he presided over the company’s shift from DVDs to streaming.

APPOINTMENTSWarner Music has hired Tim Matusch as VP Strategy & Operations. Matusch previously worked with new Warner CEO Robert Kyncl at YouTube.Booking agency Midnight Mango has announced that Barry Stewart has joined its team of agents. “It’s been a breath of fresh air to join such a supportive and dynamic group of very talented people”, he says.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor Days after top YouTube exec Robert Kyncl was named as the next CEO of Warner Music Group, the company revealed in an SEC filing that he will earn approximately $15 million in his first year on the job, depending on performance targets. When Kyncl’s name was first mentioned as a potential successor to outgoing CEO Stephen Cooper, who leaves after 11 years in the role, many wondered whether the job would be sufficiently appealing for the executive who led Netflix from DVDs to streaming and has been YouTube’s business chief for much of his 12 years at the company. However, the SEC filing makes clear that the job is financially appealing: He will receive a base salary of $2 million, a target performance-based bonus of $3 million and an annual grant of performance share units with an aggregate, pre-tax value of $10 million.

Robert Kyncl, a 12-year veteran of YouTube’s senior executive team, will become CEO of Warner Music Group on January 1.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor After a fast courtship, outgoing YouTube head of business Robert Kyncl has been named CEO of Warner Music Group and will replace Steve Cooper when he steps down next year.  According to the announcement, Kyncl and Cooper will serve as co-CEOs for the month of January 2023. As of February 1, 2023, Kyncl will become sole CEO of WMG and assume Cooper’s board seat on WMG’s Board of Directors. Kyncl brings strong music-industry experience to the job: YouTube is both the world’s largest video-streaming platform and the largest music-streaming platform, and he played a huge role in its negotiations with labels and publishers and generally received high marks (remarkably, considering the often-contentious relations between the two sides). He’s also pioneering force in the streaming business: Before he was chief business officer of YouTube, he led Netflix from DVDs to digital.

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor When YouTube chief business officer Robert Kyncl announced late last month that he’ll be leaving the company after 12 years in the job, many observers quickly moved him to the front of the line to replace outgoing Warner Music CEO Steve Cooper, who’d announced just two months earlier that he’ll be stepping down after 11 years in the job. After all, Kyncl knows the music industry  — YouTube is both the world’s largest video-streaming platform and the largest music-streaming platform, and he played a huge role in its negotiations with labels and publishers and generally received high marks (remarkably, considering the often-contentious relations between the two sides). He’s also pioneering force in the streaming business: Before he was chief business officer of YouTube, he led Netflix from DVDs to digital, a transition that was much more complex and fraught with potential failure than he and the company made it seem.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor Robert Kyncl will exit YouTube in early 2023 after more than 12 years as a senior exec at video giant. He most recently served at YouTube’s chief business officer, helping to grow it into a multibillion-dollar powerhouse. Kyncl’s departure was announced in a memo Monday to YouTube staff by CEO Susan Wojcicki, a copy of which was obtained by Variety. Kyncl is leaving “to start the next chapter in his career,” Wojcicki wrote. “Under his leadership, YouTube forged new relationships and partnerships in music, traditional media and tech, and our creator ecosystem – without him, the term ‘YouTuber’ wouldn’t be a mainstream term.”

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorMiguel Quiroga, after spending more than 20 years of his career at Verizon, is joining YouTube as VP of product partnerships.Quiroga will oversee the YouTube experience across the video platform’s partner ecosystem. That includes managing and developing partnerships for YouTube’s suite of products, including the YouTube app (on mobile and connected-TV devices), YouTube Music, YouTube TV and the platform’s shopping services.Quiroga replaces Heather Rivera, who exited YouTube in February 2022 after nearly 15 years at Google to join grocery-delivery company Instacart.

Todd Spangler NY Digital EditorYouTube is getting out of the business of originals: The Google-owned video giant said it is winding down its original productions team after more than six years.Earlier, news broke that Susanne Daniels, YouTube’s global head of original content, will leave the company in March. Going forward, YouTube will only be funding programs that are part of its Black Voices and YouTube Kids funds, chief business officer Robert Kyncl said in a statement Tuesday.Citing the growth of YouTube’s Partner Program for ad-revenue sharing — which now tops 2 million participants — Kyncl said “now our investments can make a greater impact on even more creators when applied towards other initiatives.” “We will honor our commitment for already contracted shows in progress and creators who are involved with those shows should expect to hear from us directly in the coming days,” Kyncl wrote in the message posted to Twitter.When it first started out in originals, YouTube had planned to make a run at the subscription-streaming business.

YouTube’s return to its roots as a platform for user-generated content is complete. Following the news that YouTube Global Head of Original Content Susanne Daniels has resigned after more than six years, YouTube Chief Business Officer Robert Kyncl just announced the streamer’s retreat from original programming to focus on creator-driven initiatives such as Creator Shorts Fund, Black Voices Fund, and Live Shopping programming.

Michael Schneider Variety Editor at LargeThe Denver-based TV festival SeriesFest is once again going virtual this year, unveiling a lineup of events that include the world premiere of Peacock’s docuseries “Epstein’s Shadow: Ghislaine Maxwell,” as well as conversations with guests including actors Jennifer Garner and Mark Duplass, and YouTube chief business officer Robert Kyncl, and panels dissecting “The Daily Show with Trevor Noah” and much more.The seventh year of the event, dubbed

By Todd Spangler

By Dade Hayes