It’s been a challenging year for Warner Music, with a major overhaul at its Atlantic division and change throughout its business and the industry overall, but it’s safe to say the company is ending 2024 on an up note. Its Warner Records has successfully completed a multi-year turnaround with hits from Zach Bryan, Teddy Swims, Benson Boone and more — and saw its chief execs Aaron Bay-Schuck and Tom Corson named Variety’s Hitmakers executives of the year — and Atlantic is coming off a flurry of hits from Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Rose and Variety‘s Hitmaker of the Year Charli xcx. In publishing, its Warner Chappell division has three of its writers up for the songwriter of the year Grammy — Jessi Alexander, Raye, and of course Amy Allen, who was named Hitmakers songwriter of the year.
Hard-charging CEO Robert Kyncl wrote a year-end note to the staff, thanking them for “rising to the occasion” during the “intense” 2024.
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Hi everyone,
I wanted to take a moment to thank you for your incredible dedication and passion over the past year.
In January, I talked about 2024 being the Year of the Next 10, where we moved to set ourselves up for the next decade. We’ve ended the year with the No.1 most listened-to artist, No.1 song of the year, and the most in-demand songwriter of the year. I know the last twelve months have been intense, and I’m so grateful to you all for rising to the occasion. We’ve achieved something that only a really collaborative and committed team could… We simultaneously delivered for our artists and songwriters, while doing the tough work of change.
And change is a necessity in this business… Music is nothing without the new. New sounds, new ideas, fresh looks, different directions. That’s what stands out. That’s what cuts through the noise. That blast of originality is what gives this industry its energy and optimism.
There are countless examples of innovative successes across the company. In a note like this, I can’t be comprehensive, so please excuse that I’ve picked just a few examples to highlight our trajectory.
NEW TALENT
When it comes to impactful new talent, we’ve led the industry this year.
Benson Boone had the biggest song of 2024 worldwide, and Teddy Swims had the biggest song of the year in the U.S., the largest market. Both are signed to Warner Records and Warner Chappell, and both are up for Best New Artist at the Grammys. Amy Allen became the planet’s hottest songwriter and is nominated for Grammy Songwriter of the Year, alongside WCM’s Jessi Alexander and RAYE.
Across the world, we have an extraordinary new generation lighting the way forward, including Artemas, Aziya, Bea and her Business, BENNETT, Bug Eyed, Dasha, Florence Road, Forrest Frank, Jeff Satur, Jordan Adetunji, The Marías, Michael Marcagi, Tokischa, Roxy Dekker, TitoM, and Yuppe.
NEW HEIGHTS
We’ve also helped established artists and songwriters reach new heights, telling their stories in bold, new ways.
Bruno Mars became officially the biggest artist in the world (smashing records with 138 million monthly listeners on Spotify!), thanks in part to new collaborations, including with ROSÉ, who herself set new streaming records for a K-pop soloist.
Then there’s the radical newness of Charli xcx’s “Brat,” or the record-breaking return of Linkin Park, with a soulful new singer. As well as incredible new projects from stars around the world such as Alex Warren, Ana Mena, Ayed, AYLIVA, Bailey Zimmerman, Burna Boy, Cardi B, Charlie Zhou, Coldplay, CYRIL, Dani Fernández, David Guetta, Diljit Dosanjh, Don Toliver, Dua Lipa, Ed Sheeran, Fred again.., Geolier, Gunna, Iñigo Quintero, Jack Harlow, Kenya Grace, King, Lay Zhang, Lil Uzi Vert, María Becerra, Megan Thee Stallion, Michael Bublé, Miriam Bryant, Myke Towers, NLE Choppa, SCH, twenty one pilots, TWICE, and Zach Bryan to name a few; along with reissues of iconic music from David Bowie, Grateful Dead, Green Day, Joni Mitchell, Madonna, Neil Young, and Talking Heads… all of which won new fans, and drove new spikes in streams.
NEW WORLD
We’ve not just helped our artists and songwriters do new, brave, and disruptive things, we’ve held ourselves to the same standard. The industry is at a pivot point, and the changes we’ve made this year put us on the front foot.
There’s still plenty of work to do, but we’re getting stronger, faster, bolder all the time. As I’ve said before, focus and simplicity brings great intensity and impact:
➞ Due to the changes we’ve made, we’ve delivered on our promise to put more money behind the music… growing our A&R investment by double digits.
➞ We prioritized market share growth, bringing in pioneering new leaders in major markets, including the U.S. with Atlantic and in Japan, while investing in talent and entrepreneurs in high-growth territories, such as India.
➞ We’ve shrunk the world, flattening our company, to make it easier for artists to break worldwide, while fully globalizing our catalog and distribution services.
➞ We’ve successfully advocated for innovation in pricing and royalty models at the streaming services, while demonstrating the potential of AI (with Randy Travis still my personal favorite example!).
The throughline here is our powerful ability to amplify unique voices, crank up the contrast, and bring the shock of the new. Going into 2025, let’s lean into that expertise… we want to expand the music ecosystem while, crucially, growing our share. Our mission is to turn dreams into stardom and audiences into fans.
I hope you and your loved ones enjoy a well-deserved break. So many exciting things to come in 2025!
Robert