GEMA has appointed Ralph Kink to lead its purpose-built digital transformation division.
In this role, he will drive GEMA's technological development and serve on the executive board of the German collection society.
GEMA represents the copyright of around 95,000 members in Germany (composers, lyricists, music publishers) as well as over two million rights-holders around the world.
Kink has previously worked at Microsoft for 25 years, where he held various management positions and drove the digitalisation of companies in the German market. He is also co-founder and CTO of Digital.fwd, a management consultancy specialising in digital transformation and artificial intelligence.
GEMA has initiatives that address tech changes in the sector, such as process automation and the development of new digital services. The newly-created division for digital transformation combines the CIO (chief information officer) office with the IT and project portfolio management departments, which together have a total of almost 200 employees.
Tobias Holzmüller, CEO of GEMA, said: "We cannot master contemporary challenges without our own technological expertise. This change has to start within our executive board. With Ralph Kink, we are gaining a capable and intellectually curious colleague. He will bring fresh perspectives and impetus to our organisation and his extensive experience will help us to achieve our ambitious goals."
Ralph Kink, designated board member for digital transformation at GEMA, said: "Conceiving people-centric technology has always been at the centre of my work. I feel very honoured that I am now able to work with GEMA employees to ready our 95,000 members for the digital age and make my contribution to cultural diversity and commercial music performance. I am particularly looking forward to getting to know music creators and hearing their desires, concerns and ideas about the development of the music industry."
Ralf Weigand, chairman of GEMA's supervisory board, said: "Digitalisation and now generative AI are turning the music industry upside down. The tasks that GEMA faces are challenging. The supervisory board therefore fully supports the decision to appoint a digitisation expert to the executive board. Ralph Kink is an excellent choice. His involvement means that GEMA will continue to be the right association for all musically creative human beings in an increasingly complex market."
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