Scroll down for updates
Roadrunner Records UK, the offices and HQ of the label’s European operations is to shut its doors. One can assume the move is down to financial losses, but closing the entire headquarters for Europe is quite a huge move. Roadrunner was partially acquired by Warner Music in recent years, eventually leading to a complete takeover. Warner appear to be cutting costs but the news still comes as a shock, especially on the same day that the label announced a partnership with Irish company Owjo for its Sign Me To Roadrunner site. HERE are more details on that. There are no figures yet on how many people have lost their jobs or how many have been relocated within Warner. Some of Roadrunner’s bands have been chiming in on Twitter about the news. Trivium’s Matt Heafy has been vocal about it this evening, see below. This blog post will be updated once more news comes in.
UPDATE: According to Lambgoat, Roadrunner is also closing its Canada offices in further cost cutting measures.
UPDATE 2: Cees Wessels, the founder of Roadrunner Records, has stepped down as CEO of the label and 16 staff have been let go from the US offices, so these cutbacks are hitting Roadrunner worldwide (Report from Billboard). It's definitely sad to see Wessels, the man who was there from the beginning leave. It's believed (according to Metal Sucks) that many of the tasks, once run by Roadrunner staff that have been let go, have been transferred to Warner Music staff.
Roadrunner Records UK, the offices and HQ of the label’s European operations is to shut its doors. One can assume the move is down to financial losses, but closing the entire headquarters for Europe is quite a huge move. Roadrunner was partially acquired by Warner Music in recent years, eventually leading to a complete takeover. Warner appear to be cutting costs but the news still comes as a shock, especially on the same day that the label announced a partnership with Irish company Owjo for its Sign Me To Roadrunner site. HERE are more details on that. There are no figures yet on how many people have lost their jobs or how many have been relocated within Warner. Some of Roadrunner’s bands have been chiming in on Twitter about the news. Trivium’s Matt Heafy has been vocal about it this evening, see below. This blog post will be updated once more news comes in.
UPDATE: According to Lambgoat, Roadrunner is also closing its Canada offices in further cost cutting measures.
UPDATE 2: Cees Wessels, the founder of Roadrunner Records, has stepped down as CEO of the label and 16 staff have been let go from the US offices, so these cutbacks are hitting Roadrunner worldwide (Report from Billboard). It's definitely sad to see Wessels, the man who was there from the beginning leave. It's believed (according to Metal Sucks) that many of the tasks, once run by Roadrunner staff that have been let go, have been transferred to Warner Music staff.
No comments:
Post a Comment