{"id":246840,"date":"2025-12-09T17:48:24","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T17:48:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=246840"},"modified":"2025-12-09T18:02:31","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T18:02:31","slug":"craig-kallman-appointed-chief-music-officer-of-warner-music-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/craig-kallman-appointed-chief-music-officer-of-warner-music-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Craig Kallman appointed Chief Music Officer of Warner Music Group"},"content":{"rendered":"

A&R veteran Craig Kallman has been appointed Chief Music Officer at Warner Music Group.<\/p>\n

Based in New York, Kallman will report directly to WMG\u2019s CEO Robert Kyncl.<\/p>\n

According to WMG, in this elevated role, Kallman will provide his “deep A&R expertise” across WMG\u2019s artist roster and label group globally. The move follows his nearly 35 years at Atlantic Records, where he served as Chairman and CEO of the label for two decades before transitioning to Chief Music Officer.<\/p>\n

At the same time, Kallman will continue to sign new artists to Big Beat<\/strong>, the label that he originally founded in 1987 and\u00a0has been part of WMG since he joined the company in 1991. Moving forward, each of Big Beat\u2019s artists will be worked by one of WMG\u2019s US labels, Atlantic Records and Warner Records.<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div> <\/div> <\/p>\n

The first Big Beat signing by Kallman in his new role is up-and-coming artist and producer Elkan<\/strong>, who produced Drake<\/strong> and PartyNextDoor\u2019s<\/strong> hit, NOKIA<\/em>. Elkan will release his debut EP, The Baby Bundle\u00a0<\/i>this Friday, December 12, via Atlantic Records.<\/p>\n

\n

<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>\u201cCraig has helped shape the sound and direction of modern music, leaving a lasting imprint on artists, fans, and the industry at large.”<\/p>\n

Robert Kyncl<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Kyncl said: \u201cCraig has helped shape the sound and direction of modern music, leaving a lasting imprint on artists, fans, and the industry at large.<\/p>\n

“With decades of experience working at the highest level with the biggest stars, he will be an invaluable creative force and deep resource in his new post\u2026helping drive and support A&R strategy and artist development across WMG, signing exciting new talent, and collaborating with our label leaders to bring bold, original music to the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

“As my first signing, Elkan is a statement of intent, which underscores my commitment to nurture and champion extraordinary, trailblazing talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

Craig Kallman<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Kallman added: \u201cI\u2019m deeply grateful for my time at Atlantic, where I\u2019ve had the privilege of contributing to the careers of so many remarkable artists. It\u2019s been great seeing Elliot [Grainge<\/a>] take the helm and open a bold new chapter in the label\u2019s illustrious history.<\/p>\n

“I am excited to take on this new role and work alongside our outstanding A&R teams around the world, while reimagining the Big Beat brand as a force across genres. As my first signing, Elkan is a statement of intent, which underscores my commitment to nurture and champion extraordinary, trailblazing talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/div> <\/div> <\/p>\n

In October 2024, Kallman was named<\/a> Chief Music Officer of Atlantic Music Group, where he has “lent his expertise to artists and projects throughout the company,” according to WMG.<\/p>\n

WMG added that he “has long been a creative force at the label,” serving as Chairman & CEO of Atlantic Records from 2005 to 2024 and helping to shape the careers of a roster of stars, including Bruno Mars, Cardi B, Death Cab For Cutie, Lizzo, Wiz Khalifa, Kodak Black, Shinedown, Lil Uzi Vert, Janelle Mon\u00e1e, and countless others.<\/p>\n

Kallman has also overseen the success of Grammy-winning cast albums such as Hamilton and Dear Evan Hansen, along with chart-topping soundtracks like The Greatest Showman.<\/p>\n

Described as a “frequent hands-on collaborator with his artists”, his credits include co-producing Cardi B\u2019s No. 1 hit I Like It<\/em>, the first song by a female rapper to surpass one billion streams on Spotify.<\/p>\n

\n

New York-based Kallman began his music career in the 1980s as a DJ in Manhattan. He then founded Big Beat Records<\/a>, an independent label, in 1987.<\/p>\n

Big Beat was eventually purchased by Atlantic, where A&R specialist Kallman has worked since 1991.<\/p>\n

After joining Atlantic Records in 1991, Craig Kallman, established his A&R credentials by signing and developing several major artists, including Aaliyah, P.O.D, Brandy, and Timbaland.<\/p>\n

While serving as co-president of Atlantic Records 11 years later in 2002, Kallman established an alliance between Atlantic and VP Records, a famous independent dancehall and reggae record label. Their first collaboration was Sean Paul\u2019s album, Dutty Rock<\/em>, which sold over six million copies and even won a Grammy.<\/p>\n

In 2005, the year Warner Music Group floated on the New York Stock Exchange, Kallman was named Chairman and CEO of Atlantic Records Group.<\/p>\n

\n

In 2016, the year of his 25th anniversary with Atlantic Records, Craig Kallman gave an interview to Music Business Worldwide<\/em> in which he discussed his approach to working with artists.<\/p>\n

He said: “Today\u2019s artists are smart about the industry \u2013 they know it\u2019s usually executive musical chairs all over the place.<\/p>\n

\u201cArtists sign to people who believe in them, and they want to know you\u2019re going to be there to fulfil the dreams you\u2019re promising them. You can\u2019t do that if you\u2019re jumping around to the next company for a bigger payday.\u201d<\/p>\n

“Artists sign to people who believe in them, and they want to know you\u2019re going to be there to fulfil the dreams you\u2019re promising them.”<\/p>\n

Craig Kallman<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Added Kallman: \u201cWe run the A&R department here differently to any other A&R department; it\u2019s all for one, one for all.<\/p>\n

\u201cA&R is usually cutthroat and very individual-driven \u2013 if you think about Geffen, where Gersh, Kalodner and Zutaut were all trying to kill each other. We\u2019re kind of the opposite. Everyone helps and contributes to each other\u2019s records.<\/p>\n

\n

Alongside his label activities, Kallman is known for his investment in rare vinyl, with an archive numbering 2.2 million<\/strong> recordings.<\/p>\n

Discussing his vinyl collection with the\u00a0Atlantic blog<\/a>, Kallman said: \u201cI started collecting vinyl when it was still the dominant music format, and I\u2019ve continued to be drawn to it for its superior sound quality.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe enjoyment I get from vinyl or hi-res recordings led naturally to my pursuit of striving for sonic excellence in all our artists\u2019 recordings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Craig Kallman<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cListening to something on vinyl or hi-res can be a real revelation, because you\u2019re hearing everything that\u2019s actually on the original recording and everything that the artist and producer really intended.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe enjoyment I get from vinyl or hi-res recordings led naturally to my pursuit of striving for sonic excellence in all our artists\u2019 recordings.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A&R veteran will continue to sign new artists to Big Beat<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":246864,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246840"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246840\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246875,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246840\/revisions\/246875"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}