Thomas Coesfeld’s strategy to refocus BMG on music rights continues, as Bertelsmann-owned company divests live performance business
BMG [936 articles]href=”https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/companies/bertelsmann/bmg/”> BMG has actually concurred terms that will see its 2 live business, Undercover and Karo, moved back to their minority investors.
The news follows a current statement by BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld [26 articles]href=”https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/people/thomas-coesfeld/”> Thomas Coesfeld that BMG will concentrate on its 2 core service locations of music publishing and recordings.
BMG obtained a bulk stake in Braunschweig-based Undercover, among the most effective promoters in Germany, in October 2020.
BMG and Undercover consequently formed a tactical alliance with Karo, the business behind the effective Taubertal-Festival.
The brand-new offers will see the 2 business go back to their previous ownership structure.
BMG Chief Content Officer Dominique Casimir stated, “Michael Schacke (Undercover) and Volker Hirsch (Karo) are experienced business owners who have actually developed excellent track records in the live music service.
“We are happy to have actually concurred terms which enable them to pursue an independent future and we want them and their groups the very best for the future.”
Michael Schacke, creator and owner of Undercover, stated, “I have actually searched for and discovered the very best option for Undercover and our artists. Undercover will stay strong and independent in the future.
“We want BMG and its group all the very best and every success in concentrating on its core organization.”
Volker Hirsch, creator and owner of Karo, stated, “It has actually been an enjoyment dealing with Michael Schacke and Dominique Casimir and we are delighted yet once again to be pursuing an independent course as we near the 30th year of presence of Taubertal in 2026.”
Thomas Coesfeld revealed a “more effective and more efficient” brand-new international technique at BMG in October.
The CEO’s strategy has actually currently seen modifications consisting of the closure of BMG’s New York-based theatrical productions effort; no more active commissioning of brand-new movies are now occurring at BMG.
In addition, BMG has actually combined its New York City and Canada-based taped music operations into its Los Angeles workplace.
And BMG has actually stopped its central global marketing department for recordings, which to date has actually been led by the business’s EVP Global Repertoire, Fred Casimir.
In November, Coesfeld interacted to BMG personnel even more information of a brand-new structure created to “futureproof the business for the coming years and more establish its capability to provide for artists and songwriters on a worldwide scale”.
The crucial elements of this strategy:
- Concentrating on BMG’s 2 essential service locations of music publishing and recordings;
- Doubling down on its existence in the United States with a brand-new international brochure function based in Los Angeles;
- Recalibrating its existence in Continental Europe, and restoring its frontline tape-recorded service in a brand-new ‘hub-and-spoke’ structure;
- Even more enhancing its services to artists with considerable financial investments in innovation and its myBMG environment;
- Clarifying functions and structures to make the business more responsible to its artist and songwriter customers.
At the time, Coesfeld stated, “Fifteen years after the introduction of streaming, music is going through another tectonic modification. It is important we now reengineer our company to maximize that chance.
“BMG has actually challenged the conventions of the music market since we started, bringing music publishing and recordings under one roofing system with an unique service-orientated and transparent method. Now brand-new methods of developing and taking in music and looming modifications in streaming economics are challenging us to do even much better for our customers.”
Music Business Worldwide