Universal Music Australia's New President Revealed

Yesterday, it was revealed that Universal Music Australia's longtime president, George Ash, would be stepping down from his role. 

Sean Warner, who has worked at Universal Music Australia for 15 years, is the new boss in town, The Music Network has shared. Warner joined the record company 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.

Warner said about his new role, "As the region’s leading music company, we will continue to innovate and evolve our businesses and support our artists and labels as they deliver the very best music and culture to fans."

He also thanked the Universal Music Group CEO, Sir Lucian Grainge, for his belief and the outgoing president, George Ash, for his years of guidance.

In an email sent to staff and revealed by The Music Network yesterday, Ash said that he had planned the decision to leave "for a long time".

"Having been with the company for nearly three decades, the time feels right. I am so confident in and proud of the brilliant leadership team we have in place, as well as the positive changes we have made in the past couple of years, and I am excited to see the company, staff, labels, and artists continue to grow and thrive in the years ahead," he wrote.

Read more about his decision here.

As reported by The Music Network last year, Ash confirmed that an investigation into workplace culture would go ahead at Universal Music Australia following allegations of sexual harassment, bullying, homophobia, discrimination, and sexual assault.

George Ash placed third on The Music's Power 50 in 2020, which marked the most influential people in the Australian music industry, behind Michael Gudinski and Denis Handlin. 

George Ash’s career in music began as a teenage musician in New Zealand. After holding roles at companies like BMG NZ and PolyGram, Ash sat at the helm of Universal Music New Zealand from its launch in 1995. In 2001, he moved to Australia, taking on the role of managing director of Universal Music Australia. In 2010, Ash was appointed president of Universal Music Australasia and then became president of Universal Music Asia Pacific in 2013.  

The roster at Universal Music Australia includes Tame Impala, Lorde, Baker Boy, Troye Sivan, A.B. Original, and many more.