{"id":247897,"date":"2026-01-06T15:00:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-06T15:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=247897"},"modified":"2026-01-06T15:07:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-06T15:07:14","slug":"universal-music-poaches-warners-communications-chief-james-steven","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/universal-music-poaches-warners-communications-chief-james-steven\/","title":{"rendered":"Confirmed: Universal poaches Warner’s communications chief, James Steven"},"content":{"rendered":"

Universal Music Group has appointed James Steven as its Executive Vice President & Chief Communications Officer.<\/p>\n

Steven joins UMG from Warner Music Group, where he served as Chief Communications Officer for the past 10 years.<\/p>\n

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In his new role at UMG, Steven will be responsible for leading the company\u2019s internal and external communications, as well as overseeing the communications functions of UMG’s operating companies worldwide.<\/p>\n

Effective January 26, he will be based in New York and report to UMG\u2019s Chief Administrative Officer, Will Tanous<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Commenting on Steven’s appointment, Tanous said: \u201cI know first-hand the extraordinary skill and dedication James brings to strategic communications and storytelling.”<\/p>\n

<\/a>\"Will<\/i><\/a><\/figure>

\u201cI know first-hand the extraordinary skill and dedication James brings to strategic communications and storytelling.”<\/p>\n

Will Tanous, UMG<\/strong><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Added Tanous: “His love of music and his broad experience across media and technology makes him an ideal fit for UMG as we enter the next phase of growth, driven by strategic initiatives that will unlock new opportunities for artists, songwriters, and fans alike.\u201d<\/p>\n

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UMG Chairman and CEO Sir Lucian Grainge<\/strong> said: \u201cWe welcome James to UMG and look forward to his contributions.”<\/p>\n

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Photo: Austin Hargrave<\/figcaption><\/figure>

\u201cWe welcome James to UMG and look forward to his contributions.”<\/p>\n

Sir Lucian Grainge<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Added Grainge: “Given Will\u2019s broadened role, it was important that we brought in a communications executive with experience and perspective – one who was able to step right in to help us continue to shape the future of music.\u201d<\/p>\n

During his tenure as an Executive Officer at Warner Music Group, Steven helped guide the company through a transformative period.<\/p>\n

He oversaw much of the investor relations work surrounding Warner Music Group\u2019s\u00a0IPO<\/a> in summer 2020, as well as the company’s CEO transition in 2022.<\/a><\/p>\n

In addition to his role at WMG, he is currently a board member of the Recording Industry Association of America.<\/p>\n

Steven joined Warner Music Group in London in 2007 as a member of the company\u2019s international communications team.<\/p>\n

He relocated to New York in 2012, where he rose to the position of Senior Vice President, Communications & Marketing. He was promoted again in 2015 to his current role.<\/p>\n

Prior to WMG,\u00a0Steven\u00a0held senior roles at various PR firms, working with clients in the technology, entertainment, automobile, and food industries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Steven\u00a0joins UMG from Warner Music Group, where he served as Chief Communications Officer for the past 10 years<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":247898,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[2890,2860],"class_list":["post-247897","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-umg","tag-wmg"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247897","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=247897"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247897\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247908,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/247897\/revisions\/247908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/247898"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=247897"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=247897"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=247897"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}