Veteran music executive Julie Greenwald was named Chairman and Chief Operating Officer of The Atlantic Records Group.
Greenwald, who was President, will run Atlantic’s group of labels with CEO Craig Kallman, who will continue to oversee the labels operations as well.
Under the pair’s watch, Atlantic has become the No. 1 label in the United States, based on hit records by T.I., Kid Rock, Plies, Lupe Fiasco and Jason Mraz.
Additionally, Kallman and Greenwald helped Atlantic Records to become the first major label to achieve more than 50% of U.S. recorded music sales from digital products.
Greenwald launched her career in 1992 with Def Jam Records in 1992, where she developed marketing strategies for rappers like Jay-Z, DMX, LL Cool J and others.
In 2002, Greenwald was named President of Island Records and promoted to Executive Vice President of Island Def Jam.
In 2004, she left Island Def Jam alongside Island Def Jam executives Kevin Liles and Lyor Cohen, now the Vice Chairman of Warner Music Group.
“Five years ago I tasked Craig and Julie with the challenge of completely reshaping Atlantic into a music company built for the digital age,” Cohen said in a statement. “Not only did they rise to the occasion, but in just a few years Atlantic achieved a level of success it had not seen in decades. Most importantly, throughout the rebuilding process, they never lost sight of our core mission: signing and developing magnificent artists. With Craig’s brilliant A&R vision and tireless entrepreneurial spirit and Julie’s thoughtful, cutting-edge approach to artist development, we are fortunate to have one of the preeminent executive teams in today’s music business. I congratulate Julie on this much-deserved promotion.”
At Atlantic, Greenwald has worked with a number of top-selling acts, including Rob Thomas, James Blunt, Diddy, Death Cab for Cutie, Gnarls Barkley, Missy Elliott, Flo Rida, Estelle and others.
“I’m really proud of the company Craig and I have built,” Greenwald stated. “I’m inspired every day to be working alongside the most dedicated staff and to have such a rich and diverse roster of talented artists. I’m confident we will continue to flourish within the house that Ahmet [Ertegun] built.”
