Jono Harrison has been named the new General Manager of Media & Audience of Universal Music Australia, directly reporting to CEO Sean Warner, Mediaweek reports.
Harrison has spent the last five years working at Spotify ANZ, most recently leading the Artist and Label Partnerships sector and working as the executive producer for the Spotify podcast Who Is Daniel Johns?
“In my first few weeks, we put out a new Rolling Stones album, KISS played AFL Grand Final, Paul McCartney landed in AU for his solo tour and this Friday we're putting out a Taylor [Swift] album. What an onboarding,” Harrison wrote on Linkedin yesterday (26 October).
Revealing that he was in talks with Warner as he became a father to his second son, Reuben, Harrison continued, “Why leave Spotify? Why move to a label?
“Simple… it’s such an exciting time to be working on breaking artists. The old playbook doesn’t work anymore. Audiences are completely fragmented across media, DSPs and social platforms. Artist teams have to be more creative than ever to find new audiences, grow fanbases and foster connection. This is my happy place - and I get to do it in collaboration with an absolute baller team.”
Warner said in a statement via Mediaweek, “Jono’s experience has spanned nearly 20 years across Broadcast, Radio, Music labels, Promotions, Artist and label relations and DSPs, and he brings invaluable skills, experience, and relationships to our business, and a ‘new lens’.
“Our number one goal at UMG is to discover, develop and amplify artistry, creativity, and innovation, and what we all experienced last night epitomises exactly that.”
On Linkedin, Harrison thanked his supportive Spotify family and offered a shout-out to his replacement, Leah Harris.
Sean Warner was named CEO of Universal Music Australia in December 2022 after former CEO George Ash suddenly stepped down.
Warner joined Universal in 2007 as a National Sales Manager. Since then, he’s been the Senior Vice President of Commercial and launched and ran Bravado’s Merchandise and licensing operations in Australia and New Zealand. He has also significantly developed the label's eCommerce business.
