Sony Music Entertainment has promoted Andre Stapleton as senior vice president, digital partner development.
Based in New York, he reports to Mark Piibe, executive vice president, global business development and digital strategy.
In a memo to staff seen by Music Week, Piibe said that in his new global role, Stapleton "will work on initiatives with our largest digital partners to maximise SME’s revenue and growth on a worldwide basis. He also will lead the Partner Development team which is staffed across London, Los Angeles and New York”.
Piibe added: "Andre is ideally suited to take on this key position as our digital partnerships propel SME’s business as a whole to evermore solid growth. His proven experience in business development across the digital music sector, coupled with strong relationships with our partners, will be instrumental as we continue to develop new business models that benefit our artists and labels across a wide variety of platforms and territories.”
Stapleton was most recently SME's senior vice president, global business development and strategy. He was responsible for negotiating US, multi-territory, and global deals with both new and existing partners. Prior to that, he spent three years as VP of global business development. During his career at Sony Music he also held a number of other digital business development positions within the company, including senior director of international digital business development, and director of international digital business development, based in New York.
Previously, he worked out of the European Regional Office in London, focusing on Emerging Markets in Europe, Middle East and Africa, first as manager, and later senior manager. Before joining Sony BMG in 2006, he spent four years as a management consultant with Accenture in the UK. He graduated Law School from the University of Glasgow in Scotland, with a Degree in Scots Law in 2000.
