Lars Brandle, Tahlia Phillips Made Redundant As Vinyl Group Restructures

Multiple people in senior roles at Vinyl Media have been made redundant or have resigned as its parent company, Vinyl Group, undergoes restructuring to become profitable, including beloved industry stalwart Lars Brandle, the group’s Editorial Director.

Brandle joined Vinyl Media in June 2024, being named the company’s Head of Content. He began overseeing content on mastheads such as Rolling Stone Australia/New Zealand, Variety Australia, Tone Deaf, and The Music Network. Earlier this year, he was promoted to Editorial Director.

Brandle has had a significant presence in the Australian and international music industry for over 25 years. In 2000, he joined the Billboard team and ended up becoming the publication’s Global News Editor before being crowned the publication’s Australian correspondent and overnight editor.

More people were let go last week. Affected staff members were told last Friday (29 August), Mumbrella reports, including Vinyl Media’s recently appointed Head of Publishing, Tahlia Phillips, whose role was made redundant. She was promoted to the role in May after Vinyl Group acquired Concrete Playground, where she’d held roles such as Commercial Director and General Manager.

Mumbrella also reports that James Jennings, Print Editor of Rolling Stone Australia, finished his contract, while Mediaweek reporter Alisha Buaya resigned, with more people reportedly set to depart Vinyl Media.

Neil Griffiths remains the Editor-in-Chief at Rolling Stone Australia, and will be “supported by a freelance print editor as required.”

Vinyl Group recently unveiled its annual report, in which CEO Josh Simons said the company was looking to “restructure to maximise revenue and cost synergies.” A spokesperson for Vinyl Group noted that the newly reported redundancies affected “just under 10% of headcount.”

Earlier this week, it was reported that Vinyl Group’s EBITDA – a measure of profitability before tax, interest payments, depreciation and amortisation – had gone down by $10 million. Vinyl Group is reportedly using “AI-driven publishing tools” to become profitable.

The news arrives after the Rolling Stone Australia/New Zealand team confirmed that it updated its publishing models by “moving away from” fixed quarterly issues last month.

In an email sent to subscribers seen by The Music, the move away from fixed quarterly issues was described as one to “better reflect our long-term vision.”

Subscribers will still receive four physical editions of the magazine in a year, but they’ll be delivered to homes “on a more flexible timeline” rather than strictly arriving every three months.

The news of redundancies and resignations at Vinyl Group comes as the company has been in court with previous employees.

Earlier this year, Vinyl Media’s former Head of Publishing, Jessica Hunter, settled an unfair dismissal case against the company outside of court.

Meanwhile, the former Managing Director of Vinyl Media (previously known as The Brag Media), Luke Girgis, alleged that he was unfairly terminated. Vinyl Group then counter-sued, sharing claims of alleged misconduct by Girgis. The case will appear in court this month.

In May, the company made its Chief Marketing Officer, Alli Galloway, redundant, following the same outcome for Mediaweek Editor-in-Chief Emma Shepherd.