Music executive Steve Barnett has officially made the move from Columbia Records to his new family at Capitol Music Group. The announcement was made by Universal Music Group on Monday, November 26 and Barnett is expected to begin his work as chairman and CEO at Capitol's Hollywood tower a week from now.
The much-anticipated change of companies will see the music chief overseeing Capitol's big labels including Virgin Records, Harvest, Astralwerks, Blue Note, Capitol Christian Music Group, and Caroline. He will also handle the world-famous Capitol Studios.
Some famous acts signed under Capitol are Katy Perry, Norah Jones, 30 Seconds to Mars, Amos Lee, The Decemberists, Ryan Adams and some pretty awesome catalogs of veterans including The Beach Boys, Van Morrison, and of course The Beatles.
Barnett's seven-year stint with Columbia Records saw him handling major releases and successful campaigns for some of music's most important acts such as Adele, Beyonce Knowles, John Mayer, Maxwell, One Direction, J. Cole, AC/DC, Foster the People, and Susan Boyle.
Rumors of Barnett's transfer from Columbia have been spreading since early October and UMG's chairman and CEO, Lucian Grainge, finally settled everything about the matter. In a statement, Grainge said, "As we begin to invest in and revitalize EMI globally, the Capitol Music Group, including Virgin, will play a central role in our creative and commercial initiatives."
"And there is no one better to spearhead this than Steve. His entrepreneurial approach and intuitive ability to build, strengthen and transform artists into powerful global brands has resulted in remarkable success. I'm confident that under his leadership, a new and reinvigorated Capitol will provide the kind of environment needed for artists to develop, resulting in more opportunity than ever before."
