Photo Credit: Warner Music Group (Carletta Higginson)
Warner Music Group has announced Carletta Higginson is joining the company as Executive Vice President (EVP), Chief Digital Officer. The move is effective October 16.
Higginson comes aboard with media executive and music rights expertise, joining the WMG team after serving as the Global Head of Music Publishing at YouTube and Google Play. She previously worked as a litigator advocating for record labels, music publishers, artists, and songwriters. Higginson will be based in New York and will report directly to WMG CEO Robert Kyncl — who himself is a storied YouTube alum.
As Global Head of Publishing at YouTube, Higginson is credited with spearheading the platform’s licensing strategy, as well as building and maintaining relationships with publishers, collection societies, and PROs. Her role included negotiating digital licensing and partnership agreements, managing existing partnerships, launching new relationships, and driving new business opportunities. In addition, she oversaw the development of various initiatives to help creatively support artists, songwriters, and producers on the platform.
In her new post, Carletta Higginson will oversee the full spectrum of WMG’s global digital partnerships, from deal-making through account management, while she and her team explore commercial innovation and forge new digital partnerships.
“It’s rare to find someone of Carletta’s multifaceted expertise—who understand the full scope of the music publishing and recorded music businesses as well as the dynamics of streaming, social media, and AI,” Robert Kyncl relayed. “She has great commercial instincts, a sharp legal mind, and a collaborative approach to building well-aligned partnerships. As we pioneer the future of music with our artists and songwriters, she’ll be an invaluable addition to our senior management team.”
“This is a very exciting time to be in music with many new avenues opening up,” Higginson adds. “I’ve worked closely with the outstanding team at WMG for many years, and I’m very happy to be joining Robert and everyone at WMG to help chart the future together. Above all, I’m a huge fan of the company’s incredible roster of songwriters and artists.”
The appointment closely follows the announcement that Oana Ruxandra is departing WMG. “Oana’s played a key role in the evolution of WMG and the music business, across a wide range of revenue streams and different types of innovation,” Kyncl adds about Ruxandra. “On behalf of everyone at the company, I’d like to thank her for many achievements and wish her all the best in her future entrepreneurial endeavors.”
