Zach Katz has been appointed president of BMG US, taking sole charge of its US repertoire and marketing across both music publishing and recordings.
In his role as president, Katz will be responsible for a roster, which includes such artists as Bruno Mars, will.i.am, DJ Snake John Legend, Pitbull, Frank Ocean and Quincy Jones on the publishing side and Blink-182, Janet Jackson, Alabama, Iron Maiden, Scarface and OK Go on the recording side.
Based in LA, he will also be responsible for BMG teams in New York, LA and Nashville, as well as Rise Records in Portland, Oregon.
BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said: “Zach Katz is a dynamic and visionary leader who I am confident will not only inspire the BMG US team to even greater heights, but will also take BMG’s distinctive message to the heart of the US music community.”
Katz added “I am incredibly honoured and excited to be taking on this role. Barely seven years in and BMG is nipping at the heels of the majors with a commitment to do the right thing by artists and songwriters. The fact is that if you don’t like the traditional way of doing things, but you still want infrastructure and the support to succeed, then BMG offers a real alternative.”
Katz’s appointment comes just four months after he was promoted to the role of president of music publishing, BMG US, following a run of chart success that boosted the company’s market share to double digits.
Key signings he has overseen include Bebe Rexha, DJ Snake, Monsters & Strangerz, John Ryan, Bibi Bourelly, The Strokes, Greg Wells, Verse Simmonds, Gente De Zona and Nathaniel Rateliff.
Before joining BMG, Katz co-founded record label Beluga Heights with his client/partner JR Rotem, where they scored multi-million album sales and tens of millions of singles sales with artists including Jason Derulo and Sean Kingston.
He previously served as general manager of Groove Attack USA.
It was recently announced that former president, creative and marketing, Laurent Hubert to step down after seven years with the company.
“Laurent Hubert’s contribution to the growth of BMG has been phenomenal,” said Masuch. “Under him our team in the US has grown from literally zero to 170 people, our revenues have grown from virtually nothing to over a quarter of a billion dollars. He is an exceptional dealmaker and strategist and the whole BMG team today salutes him.”
Hubert added: “My experience with BMG has exceeded all of my expectations. Together, we have built the fastest growing music company in the world. We have broken down long-standing industry barriers between music publishing and recorded music to deliver the best service and results to our clients.
“On a personal level, I confided to Hartwig a few months ago that I felt that I had done everything I had set out to do at BMG. We both felt that now is the right time for that succession, and I am delighted to endorse Zach as the right choice to lead this next chapter.”
