Julia Hummel has been named Vice President, Digital Strategy & Business Development, at Warner Music Canada.
Hummel will help the label’s artists leverage opportunities in Web3, and will work to strengthen relationships with its existing digital partners.
Hummel joins from Amazon Music Canada, where she was Head of Artist & Partner Marketing, leading the company’s strategy around digital, social, live-streaming and brand partnerships.
Hummel will be based in Toronto and reports to Andy West, EVP and General Manager of Warner Music Canada, who took on the role in January.
Hummel began her music industry career at Warner Music Canada in 2014, first joining as a Marketing Coordinator.
In 2018, she took up an opportunity at Warner Music UK as Digital Marketing Manager, before returning to Warner Music Canada to become Director, Marketing Strategy.
A move to Amazon Music Canada followed in 2020.
While there, she helped to build out the business in Canada, and led on cross-category partnerships with key Amazon verticals, including Alexa, Prime Video and the Amazon-owned Twitch.
Over recent months, Warner has increased its focus on the world of Web3.
In April, Warner Recorded Music enlisted Linkin Park co-founder Mike Shinoda as Community Innovation Advisor, who will work closely with Warner Music’s leadership and business development teams to help shape what it called at the time its “artist-centric approach to Web3”.
In February, Warner Music boss Steve Cooper told MBW that “the emergence of Web3 is going to further amplify the importance of music labels and publishers.”
In 2021, Warner Music Group struck an NFT-related global partnership with Genies, which dubbed itself at the time as “the world’s largest avatar technology company.”
In September 2019, WMG also joined an $11 million investment round in blockchain firm Dapper Labs.
“I’m very excited to be re-immersing myself at Warner Music Canada.”
Julia Hummel
Julia Hummel, said: “I’m very excited to be re-immersing myself at Warner Music Canada to lead the company’s digital business.
“It’s an inspiring time in the industry and I’m enthusiastic about helping our artists tap into the wealth of opportunities that are emerging daily for them to tell their stories and connect with fans in new ways.”
“Julia is a brilliant, creative executive and it’s a pleasure to welcome her back to Warner Music Canada.”
Andy West
Andy West, added: “Julia is a brilliant, creative executive and it’s a pleasure to welcome her back to Warner Music Canada.
“She understands how campaigns work from the perspective of artists, labels and different types of digital services and how we can all work together to deliver moments that impact culture and shape lives.”
“We’re rebooting Warner Music Canada to ensure we’re ahead of the curve.”
Kristen Burke, Warner Music Canada
Kristen Burke, President of Warner Music Canada, said: “We’re rebooting Warner Music Canada to ensure we’re ahead of the curve in our fast-changing industry.
“One of the major changes we’re making is to strengthen our digital team under Julia’s leadership. This is another major milestone in the development of a new Warner Music Canada.”Music Business Worldwide