Steve Cooper is the former Chief Executive Officer of Warner Music Group (WMG), the home of Atlantic Records, Warner Records, Elektra Music Group and Warner Chappell Music, amongst others.<\/p>\n
Cooper\u00a0joined<\/a>\u00a0WMG in August 2011 following the company\u2019s\u00a0acquisition<\/a>\u00a0by\u00a0Access Industries<\/a>\u00a0in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.3 billion. Back then, he was described as a corporate \u201cturnaround guru\u201d who was able to rescue struggling companies from Krispy Kreme to energy company Enron.<\/p>\n Cooper\u2019s decade-plus run at WMG saw multiple acquisitions including\u00a0300 Entertainment<\/a>\u00a0(US), Qanawat (Middle East), and Africori (Sub Saharan Africa), as well as nine-figure catalog deals with stars like David Bowie and David Guetta.<\/p>\n His successful tenure<\/a> as WMG\u2019s longest-running CEO concluded on January 31, 2023, handing over control of WMG to successor Robert Kyncl<\/a>.<\/p>\n In an exit interview<\/a> with Music Business Worldwide<\/em> in December 2022, Cooper commented on the music industry’s potential in the coming years, noting that “the next decade will build really positively on the last ten years. There\u2019s so much opportunity on the horizon for our artists and songwriters, and for WMG”.<\/p>\n He added: “Since 2010, the growth of streaming has been a slow burn towards what we\u2019ve seen over the last couple of years \u2013 an explosion of new business models. The uses of music will be unlimited, more interactive, and surround us in our daily lives. Plus, in an increasingly crazy world, music will continue to be a source of solace, hope and entertainment.<\/p>\n “All successful companies get to a point where they\u2019d benefit from fresh eyes. I\u2019m so proud of what our team has achieved. It\u2019s a good moment for someone new to come in and keep the ball rolling.”<\/p>\n Cooper also serves as a member of the Supervisory Board for LyondellBasell Industries N.V., one of the world\u2019s largest companies specializing in olefins, polyolefins, chemicals and refining.<\/p>\n He is also an advisor at Zolfo Cooper, a financial advisory and interim management firm, which he co-founded and formerly acted as Chairman.<\/p>\n Cooper is also Managing Partner of private equity firm Cooper Investment Partners and has over three decades’ experience as a financial advisor.<\/p>\n “We have a lot of really talented people, and I never second guess them. I just want to create an environment where they can do their best work.”<\/p>\n Steve Cooper, speaking in 2016<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n He has previously served as Vice Chairman and member of the office of Chief Executive Officer of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc. and Chief Executive Officer of Hawaiian Telcom.<\/p>\n Cooper received a B.A. from Occidental College and an M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business.<\/p>\n In a Music Business Worldwide<\/em> interview<\/a> from 2016, Cooper was asked if he’s more of a businessman or a music man, to which he replied: “I have huge respect for people that have dedicated their entire careers to the music business, but that\u2019s not what I\u2019ve done. I have three rules that have served me well, in business and in life.<\/p>\n “First, have fun, because this isn\u2019t a dress rehearsal. Second, no assholes. That\u2019s in direct correlation to point one. Third, treat people fairly and expect to be treated fairly in return.<\/p>\n “So, I\u2019ve applied those here. Right from the start, I knew better than to get involved in the creative decisions.<\/p>\n “We have a lot of really talented people, and I never second guess them. I just want to create an environment where they can do their best work.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Steve Cooper is the former Chief Executive Officer of Warner Music Group (WMG), the home of Atlantic Records, Warner Records, Elektra Music Group and Warner Chappell Music, amongst others. Cooper\u00a0joined\u00a0WMG in August 2011 following the company\u2019s\u00a0acquisition\u00a0by\u00a0Access Industries\u00a0in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.3 billion. Back then, he was described as a corporate \u201cturnaround guru\u201d who … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":43971,"template":"","class_list":["post-84969","people","type-people","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/people\/84969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/people"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/people"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/people\/84969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":247945,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/people\/84969\/revisions\/247945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/43971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n