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Warner Music Group and Violator Management CEO Chris Lighty Announce Strategic Marketing and Brand Management Joint Venture
| Source: Warner Music Group
NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - June 13, 2007) - Warner Music Group Corp. (NYSE : WMG ) and Chris
Lighty, founder and CEO of the artist management company Violator
Management, today announced the formation of a new joint venture to
be known as Brand Asset Group. The Group is designed to increase revenue
by more aggressively managing artist brands from all genres and capitalize
on the value of those brands through corporate sponsorships, strategic and
integrated marketing campaigns and comprehensive brand extensions.
Lighty will serve as CEO of Brand Asset Group, where he will develop
product endorsement opportunities and implement strategic, integrated
marketing campaigns with artists for the vast array of Fortune 500
companies. The company will seek to serve artists in all genres of music
and entertainment -- including, but not limited to -- artists on WMG's
labels.
In making the announcement, Lyor Cohen, Chairman and CEO, U.S. Recorded
Music for Warner Music Group, said, "Music and artists are at the core of
everything we do. Our job is to build an infrastructure that can provide
opportunities for artists. Few people in the entertainment industry have
been as successful as Chris has been in uniting artists and brands, and
we're thrilled that through this new venture, we'll be able to bring Chris'
talents and skill to bear on WMG's roster as well as artists from other
labels.
Kevin Liles, Warner Music Group's Executive Vice President, said, "Chris'
ability to transform artists into successful multi-media brands has made
him a true pioneer. Having worked with Chris for years, I'm confident that
together we can build Brand Asset Group into another powerful resource for
our artists."
"WMG is a company full of innovators," said Violator CEO Chris Lighty.
"Together, we can leverage our skills, relationships and our combined
strengths in order to benefit the music industry. There are new and
significant brand extension opportunities for artists with different
companies that have never been contemplated before. We are eager to work
together for the mutual benefit of artists, fans, corporate sponsors and
WMG."
Lighty will continue in his role as CEO of Violator. As CEO of Brand Asset
Group, he will report to Kevin Liles and work closely with executives at
Warner Music Group's labels including The Atlantic Records Group and Warner
Bros. Records in identifying sponsorship and brand extension opportunities
for artists.
Lighty founded New York's Violator Management & Records in 1990. In 2006,
Forbes Magazine named him "one of the industry's most influential talent
managers" based on his many accomplishments including transforming his
longtime client 50 Cent from a multi-platinum artist to a $200 million
industry encompassing CDs, films, tours, video games, book deals, a
clothing line (G-unit) and investment/endorsement deals with Glaceau's
Vitamin Water.
Other artists managed by Violator include Diddy, Missy Elliott, LL Cool J
and Busta Rhymes. His clients have sold more than 80 million albums
worldwide.
Over the course of his career, Lighty has become well-known for his ability
to link artists with major corporate brands. Watershed moments in brand
extension were realized in the early 90s as a result of Lighty's efforts.
LL Cool J became one of the first hip hop artists to appear in a commercial
for The Gap. Lighty has also secured major brand commercial opportunities
for Busta Rhymes with Mountain Dew, A Tribe Called Quest with Sprite, and
the Missy Elliot campaign with MAC. These were breakthrough brand extension
deals in the entertainment industry at the time.
Lighty began his career carrying crates of records for DJ Red Alert. In
1989, Lighty joined Russell Simmons and Lyor Cohen at RUSH Management.
Shortly after, he started the indie label Violator signing Fat Joe and
Beatnuts. In the early 90s he moved the label to Def Jam, signing
multi-platinum artists Warren G and Foxy Brown. In 1999, while maintaining
his management position, Lighty sold the Violator Records roster and
catalog to Def Jam.
About Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group became the only stand-alone music company to be publicly
traded in the United States in May 2005. With its broad roster of new stars
and legendary artists, Warner Music Group is home to a collection of the
best-known record labels in the music industry including Asylum, Atlantic,
Bad Boy, Cordless, East West, Elektra, Lava, Maverick, Nonesuch, Reprise,
Rhino, Roadrunner, Rykodisc, Sire, Warner Bros. and Word. Warner Music
International, a leading company in national and international repertoire,
operates through numerous international affiliates and licensees in more
than 50 countries. Warner Music Group also includes Warner/Chappell Music,
one of the world's leading music publishers, with a catalog of more than
one million copyrights worldwide.