In February, MBW broke the news that Ole Obermann was leaving his role as Global Head of Music Business Development at ByteDance after five and a half years.<\/p>\n
Our sources told us that he had lined up a big role at Apple Music.<\/strong><\/p>\n Today (April 29), we can confirm that Obermann has indeed joined Apple<\/strong>, in a newly created role in music<\/strong> focused on strategy and innovation.<\/p>\n MBW understands that Obermann has taken up a joint leadership position at Apple Music alongside Rachel Newman<\/strong>\u00a0as the new Co-Heads, Apple Music<\/strong>, reporting into Oliver Schusser<\/strong>.<\/p>\n According to an internal announcement sent out this afternoon, and obtained by MBW, as the new Co-Heads, Apple Music,\u00a0Obermann and Newman\u00a0will help “lead the service into its next phase”.<\/p>\n Los Angeles-based Rachel Newman is an Apple veteran who has spent more than 16 years at the company.<\/p>\n Newman has stepped up to the co-leadership role from her previous role as Global Head of Content and Editorial at the music streaming platform.<\/p>\n The exec originally joined Apple in 2009. Initially, she worked as the iTunes Australia\/New Zealand Manager, Music.<\/p>\n Obermann was previously responsible for driving ByteDance\/TikTok’s music strategy.<\/p>\n Obermann originally joined<\/a> TikTok in 2019 as Vice President, Global Head of Music. It was later confirmed that Obermann\u2019s role had\u00a0expanded<\/a>\u00a0to become Global Head of Music Business Development and IP at ByteDance.<\/p>\n Prior to joining TikTok\/ByteDance, Obermann served in various senior digital roles at Warner Music Group and\u00a0Sony Music Entertainment<\/a>.<\/p>\n Following Obermann\u2019s departure from ByteDance at the end of March, Tracy Gardner<\/strong><\/a> was appointed as the company’s new Global Head of Music Business Development.<\/p>\n Apple’s internal announcement today called Obermann a “well-respected leader in the music industry” who “negotiated landmark deals during his tenure” at TikTok.<\/p>\n A key event during Obermann\u2019s tenure at TikTok was\u00a0the return<\/a>\u00a0of\u00a0Universal Music Group<\/a>\u2018s recorded music and publishing catalogs to the platform after a licensing dispute resulted in UMG\u00a0pulling its music<\/a>\u00a0from TikTok in January\/February last year.<\/p>\n Universal and TikTok\u00a0struck<\/a>\u00a0a new licensing deal in May 2024, including \u201cimproved remuneration\u201d for UMG artists and songwriters, as well as a commitment to develop AI tools responsibly.<\/p>\n Obermann<\/strong>\u00a0is also credited with closing what TikTok describes as \u201ca first-of-its-kind artist\u00a0deal with Taylor Swift<\/a>\u201d to feature her catalog on TikTok in support of her record-breaking Eras Tour and\u00a0The Tortured Poets Department<\/em>\u00a0album release.<\/p>\n
\n