ADA Worldwide, WMG’s independent label and artist services arm, has expanded into Russia and Italy.
The company has also made several key hires across Central Europe, India, and Latin America.
This is the latest milestone since Cat Kreidich took the reins as President of ADA earlier this year, and follows the 2020 launches of teams covering Benelux, Latin America, Portugal and Spain, Asia, Japan, and France.
ADA Russia is headquartered in Moscow and led by Alexander Kasparov.
Having started out as a music journalist, Kasparov most recently served as Marketing Director for Warner Music Russia for the past seven years, and also co-founded his own Berlin-based record label, East Blok Music.
Prior to that, Kasparov was Vice President of International Marketing for Eastern Europe at EMI and was a program director for Radio Maximum, the country’s first Russian/American FM station.
Kasparov will report to Alexander Blinov, Managing Director of Warner Music Russia.
The local operation has already struck deals, including the catalog of legendary rock band Gorky Park and singer Olga Kormukhina; Artyom Umrikhin (of multi-platinum pop group Artik & Asti)’s Self Made Music label; and the release of music film scores from world-renowned composer Alfred Schnittke.
ADA Russia’s launch follows the unveiling of Atlantic Records Russia in March, reflecting Warner Music’s determination to offer a range of options to artists in Europe’s fastest-growing music market.
ADA Italy is headquartered in Milan and led by Davide D’Aquino. As the Head of ADA Italy, Davide D’Aquino oversees A&R and business development for the newly formed group.
His experience background includes distribution, management and PR at companies including PR agency Parole & Dintorni and RAI, Italy’s public broadcasting company.
He joins ADA Italy from Artist First, where he served as head of A&R. He will be supported by new A&R and Marketing Manager Riccardo Cresseri, who also joins ADA from Artist First, where he spent three years working in A&R with both well-established and new Indie-pop and Urban artists.
D’Aquino will report to Marco Alboni, Chairman and CEO of Warner Music Italy.
“I’m thrilled to continue ADA’s global expansion with the launch of ADA Russia and Italy, and these key hires around the world.”
Cat Kreidich
Cat Kreidich said: “I’m thrilled to continue ADA’s global expansion with the launch of ADA Russia and Italy, and these key hires around the world.
“There is so much opportunity in this space; I’m confident that our services stand out and am excited to offer even more artists and labels all over the world the benefits of both a global network and local intelligence and networking. I can’t wait to work with these teams as ADA continues to be the global indie music community’s biggest champion.”
“We’re excited to be open for business and I think you’ll see us expand rapidly over the next few months.”
Alexander Kasparov
Alexander Kasparov added: “The Russian music scene is exploding at the moment and independent labels and artists are at the heart of the action.
“We’re excited to be open for business and I think you’ll see us expand rapidly over the next few months.”
“Italy has always had a strong indie scene, but we want to do more to help our independent artists reach a global fanbase.”
Davide D’Aquino
Davide D’Aquino said: “Italy has always had a strong indie scene, but we want to do more to help our independent artists reach a global fanbase.
“We’re also here to complement Warner Music Italy’s presence domestically to broaden the routes to market we can offer to local artists.”
ADA has also made a number of additional key hires in markets where it already operates.
ADA Central Europe has named Larissa Lueters as Head of ADA Central Europe, based in Hamburg. Previously, Lueters was the Head of Brand Management Marketing International for Warner Music Central Europe.
She’s worked with artists including Linkin Park, Twenty One Pilots, Slipknot, Iron Maiden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Panic! At the Disco. Lueters also has a background in the independent music community stemming from her time at Roadrunner Records.
Lueters will report to Felix Brouwer, Director, Label Services, Warner Music Central Europe and be supported by existing label managers Juergen Sauer and Bjoern Brauer.
ADA India has brought in Swapnali Pundlik to accelerate its activity in the region. Pundlik has previously worked at companies like Believe and Sony Music.
She will be supporting ADA’s Indian label partners and local Warner Music team in an Operations driven role.
ADA Latin, led by Juan Paz, has continued to build out its teams across the region with:
Ignacio Alarcón, Commerce and Marketing Manager for ADA Iberia. He was previously a member of the commercial team for Universal Music Spain, where he was the lead account manager for Spotify. He is based in Madrid.
Catalina Córdoba, Commerce & Marketing Manager for the Andes region (which includes Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru) handling relations with digital service providers and distribution marketing efforts. Córdoba’s background includes working for the Red Bull Latin America team, Sony Colombia, and Deezer. She is based in Bogotá, Colombia.
Gonzalo “Chalo” Galvan, A&R and Business Development Manager for ADA Mexico, focusing especially on the growing Regional Mexican genre. He was part of the A&R teams at One RPM Mexico as well as Universal Music. He is based in Monterrey.
Karla Ollie, Commerce & Marketing Manager, ADA Brazil. Having previously worked in both live events and for labels, her background includes stints at the Vivo Rio show house and Som Livre, Brazil’s biggest homegrown label.
Ollie is based in Rio De Janeiro.
Eduardo Rivadeneira, Manager, Operations & Support, ADA Latin, overseeing operations for the entire ADA Latin team. He comes to ADA Latin America & Iberia from Sony US Latin, where he was part of the Production and Operations team. Rivadeneira is based in Miami.
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