Thursday was an extremely crappy day for the crew at Roadrunner Records.
That’s because parent Warner Music Group chose Thursday to slash substantial parts of the sub-label, with complete shutdowns happening in several offices outside of the US.
According to executives at the label, offices in the UK, Germany, Canada, and the Netherlands are closing, with substantial chops also happening in the US. “Everyone’s getting let go, including me,” one source flatly told Digital Music News.
Sounds like the village is getting burned, though conflicting information surrounds the post-layoff presence in these countries. Roadrunner is clearly a venerable brand that stretches beyond metal, and the brand itself definitely isn’t getting laid off. Most roles and backend functions are getting rolled into Warner Music Group, though there is talk of skeleton offices or some superficial presence in the various countries.
That said, this looks like a serious gutting. Sources also noted that CEO Cees Wessels is also packing his things, and in terms of a layoff count, Billboard estimates that 36 are being let go – with 16 in the US.
Warner Music Group has been a majority owner for many years, but became the sole owner late last year. Warner has not issued a release on the matter.
Warner Music Group is the one bleeding, not Roadrunner.
This will allow Road Runner to focus on the core business… it make sense…
umm do you not get that there is no more roadrunner? you have warner in a roadrunner-skin suit.
As if anyone thought they had job security there?
as if anyone thought they had job security in any field … after a number of layoffs etc I finally made the decision to be self employed … harder work … longer hours … more control … I can’t fire myself.
That is sad. Go ahead and scoff, but I am an unapologetic metal fan and I have purchased Roadrunner CDs. Maybe it is good for some of the bands, if they can redirect fans to their own websites and purchase directly.
What’s a CD?
“purchase”music? Who does that anymore?
What is this “band” you speak of, I take it you mean “EQ band” on a turntable setup at EDC?
I hear 60hz is where it’s at
Imagine the brutal playlists these poor staff will be firing up.
Warner Music puts the budget knife to RoadRunner…
No surprise here.
what does this mean for the tabloid metal news site, Blabbermouth? the self proclaimed “CNN of Heavy Metal”. Possibly nothing I’d think. Those morons get enough traffic to work on their own.
As for blaming piracy, thats a very easy thing to do. Look at the situation right now. Cyberlockers are becoming extinct and almost every major broadband ISP in the United States is fighting torrents this summer with an aggressive watchdog program. This is already happening in the majority of Europe. Unless you live in an Asian country like Indoneisa, it will be very hard to download copyrighted for free from the Internet anymore.