Universal Music Group Appoints Joseph Schmidt As New CFO

Universal Music Group (UMG) has appointed Joseph Schmidt to Chief Financial Officer, East Coast Labels, it was announced today by Ivan Gavin, Chief Operating Officer, East Coast Labels, to whom he reports. UMG's East Coast Labels include The Island Def Jam Music Group and Universal Republic Records. Formerly, Mr. Schmidt served as Vice President, Finance for RCA Records. He is based in New York City.
Mr. Schmidt will oversee financial functions, including planning, forecasting, reporting and deal analysis as well as marketing administration.  He will manage the finance staffs of Island Def Jam and Universal Republic which will report to him.
"Joe is a consummate professional who possesses the financial skills necessary to expertly navigate today's rapidly changing marketplace," commented Mr. Gavin. "And as we continue to expand the East Coast Labels, he's the ideal executive to oversee both Island Def Jam and Universal Republic finance staffs."
"It's great to be joining UMG's East Coast Labels at such an exciting time, while we are repositioning the group to maximize all opportunities on both the creative and financial sides of the business," stated Mr. Schmidt.  "Rarely do you have the kind of creative and business leadership that the East Coast Labels enjoy.  I'm happy to be a part of it and look forward to contributing."
Mr. Schmidt had been with Sony Music for over 15 years, most recently at RCA Records, whose artists include Alicia Keys, Usher, Foo Fighters, Chris Brown and P!nk. Prior to RCA, Mr. Schmidt was with Sony Music Entertainment and SONY BMG Entertainment in a number of key finance positions across the companies' respective labels and label groups.
Universal Music Group is the world's leading music company with wholly owned operations in 60 territories. Its businesses also include Universal Music Publishing Group, the industry's leading global music publishing operation. Universal Music Group's record labels include A&M/Octone, Decca, Def Jam Recordings, Deutsche Grammophon, Disa, Emarcy, Fonovisa, Geffen Records, Interscope Records, Island Records, Lost Highway Records, Machete Music, MCA Nashville, Mercury Nashville, Mercury Records, Motown Records, Polydor Records, Universal Music Latino, Universal Republic and Verve Music Group as well as a multitude of record labels owned or distributed by its record company subsidiaries around the world. The Universal Music Group owns the most extensive catalogue of music in the industry, which includes the last 100 years of the world's most popular artists and their recordings. UMG's catalogue is marketed through two distinct divisions, Universal Music Enterprises (in the U.S.) and Universal Strategic Marketing (outside the U.S.). Universal Music Group also includes Global Digital Business, its new media and technologies division and Bravado, its merchandising company.

From The End To This Is Love will.i.am The New Beginning

Here it is, the long awaited upcoming solo album from the former Black Eyed Peas leading man will.i.am entitled "#willpower,"  word on the street is that will.i.am likens this records to some of the best work he's done with the band. 

He recently told Billboard.com  "'The E.N.D.,' right now, is the work that I'm most proud of, and this is just as special as 'The E.N.D.'," will.i.am says that "#willpower," which is due out this fall' has been a journey, and I'm proud of the journey to get all the songs I have right now and the work I did to get all the songs for this record." will.i.am estimates that he worked on 200-300 songs, of which about a dozen will appear on the final album. And, he adds, that probably won't include recent singles such as "T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)" with Mick Jagger and Jennifer Lopez and "Check It Out" with Nicki Minaj and Cheryl Cole. "I just always want to put out songs. They don't necessarily have to be part of an album," he explains. "Those are just songs to let people know along the way what I'm working on. That's me having an audio, musical conversation with the public." 

So what will be on "#willpower?" "There's classical shit, like just me and a guitar and an orchestra or me with just an orchestra and a kid's choir," he says. "There's some ghetto, ugly, dirty stuff. And then there's dance stuff, global world stuff and, like, avant garde, left-of-center, for-art's-sake music that has nothing to do with getting played on the radio. I'm just art-ing out. It's pretty diverse." Guests on the album, he adds, will include Justin Bieber, LMFAO, Ne-Yo and Nicole Scherzinger, among others.
Meanwhile, will.i.am was thrilled to work with Dutch dance music diva Eva Simons on his new single, "This is Love," a mix of melodic pop and EDM whose "Hell yeah!" refrain he recorded during a New Year's Eve show this year in Las Vegas. "Eva Simons is, hands down, the princess of dance music," says will.i.am, who filmed a video for the song in London. "She was doing it way before everyone was doing it, and she produces her own self. She picks her own effects. She records herself. We have conversations like, 'So what compressors do you use?' She sings wonderfully, she writes wonderfully, she's sexy. She is the real thing. It's exactly what dance music is about. That's why I'm so happy and honored to be working with her."
will.i.am says the Black Eyed Peas remain on hiatus -- "The other want to take breaks. I don't know how to take breaks" -- but he promises that "we're definitely going to put (another) record out, just no idea when." Meanwhile, he's thinking about some sort of tour to promote "#willpower," although he acknowledges that the specter of the Peas looms large over that prospect.
"What I have going against me is everybody saying, 'Where the other three people at?' " will.i.am explains. "I can't just go out with a bunch of background dancers to make up for the fact Fergie, Ap and Taboo aren't there. So I have to come up with a different idea and invent something to make people say, 'Dang, that was better than what you were doing with the Peas!' That won't be easy, but if I can't do that, I'm staying home."