Warner Music arm seeks Russian deals despite business suspension

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20.09.2022 - 10:07

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theguardian.com:

Executives at the Russian arms of Warner Music, home to artists including Ed Sheeran and Dua Lipa, and French company Believe, have continued to try to broker deals despite the suspension of business after the invasion of Ukraine, the Guardian has learned.

The $15bn (£13bn) publicly listed Warner Music – which is owned by Sir Leonard Blavatnik, the Ukrainian-born billionaire with US and UK citizenship – owns ADA Russia, which works with local independent labels and artists such as Zemfira and Gorky Park. The wider ADA operation lists artists including YouTuber and rapper KSI as clients.

A marketing email sent by a top executive at ADA Russia, which is located within Warner Music’s offices and whose staff have Warner Music email addresses, tried to drum up business with local labels almost a month after its parent company announced a suspension of all operations in Russia in March.

The email, sent in April and seen by the Guardian, sought to discuss “potential cooperation”, offering premium rates for a range of music services and citing a string of Russian artists the company already represents.

“I would like to note that our streaming rates are much higher, we can do vinyl releases as well, and we offer advanced analytics,” the executive said in the email. “Everything is ready, and we’d like to demonstrate it in examples. We would like to meet up with you and discuss in person all the opportunities and our potential cooperation.”

The division, which calls itself the distribution department of Warner Music Russia, does not work with big name international artists signed to the world’s third-biggest record label.

The email directly contradicted Warner Music Group’s announcement on 10 March that it was “suspending operations in