Universal Music Group’s CIO appointed CEO of joint venture

Yesterday, Joe DeTullio, Universal Music Group’s EVP and CIO, was appointed CEO of Royalty Services LP, a joint venture between Universal Music Group (UMG), Warner Music Group (WMG), Lightspeed Venture Partners and Exigen Group.  DeTullio will oversee business operations, marketing, sales and strategic development at the company, located in NYC’s Rockefeller Plaza.

Royalty Services is developing a royalty transaction processing service for UMG and WMG that will eventually be marketed to other media, entertainment and telecom companies.  The IT departments at UMG and WMG currently handle royalty transactions.   

The announcement about DeTullio struck me as blog-worthy for several reasons:

1. It’s about a CIO who was appointed CEO (granted, at a technology company, which is less of a stretch for CIOs.)

2. It’s testimonial to the impact technology continues to have on the music industry.

3. The formation of the company will probably have some affect on the IT departments at UMG and WMG (possibly downsizing) if they outsource royalty transaction processing to Royalty Services.

In the press release announcing his appointment, DeTullio spoke of technology’s impact on the music industry: 

In the music industry, digital media disrupted the market and prompted a change in the way every business process behaves through the sales and distribution channels. The movie, publishing and telecommunications industries will encounter similar challenges as they embrace online media content distribution. These industries will have to break out of the straitjacket that constricts their approach to business processes and look at business processes as assets that can generate financial returns, not simply as expenses.