Zach Katz To Exit BMG, Company Splits US Repertoire Team

Zach Katz

BMG US Pres./Repertoire & Marketing Zach Katz will exit the company at the end of the year to take on a new role.

“Zach has made a substantial contribution to BMG over the past six years,” says CEO Hartwig Masuch, “most notably in helping our US operation make the transition from an acquisition-driven start-up to an organically-driven music publishing and recordings company which genuinely delivers on its core values to its clients. I have immense respect for the commitment he has given BMG and salute his multitude of achievements.”

Katz says, “I would like to express my utmost gratitude to Hartwig, for believing in me over the years and believing in the US team. Under his management, BMG has grown exponentially and achieved more in the past 10 years than most companies could ever dream possible. I am positive the greatest years of BMG still lie ahead with the company’s new US leadership group at the helm.”

Katz’s departure comes as BMG reveals its new structure, effective Jan. 1, 2019. The move splits BMG into three key US offices: Los Angeles, Nashville, and New York, will effectively have the same status as countries such as the UK and Germany, reporting directly to worldwide CEO Masuch.

BMG Nashville’s Kos Weaver, BBR Music Group’s Jon Loba

In Nashville, the new organization finds Jon Loba (EVP, BBR Music Group) and Kos Weaver (EVP BMG Nashville) formally taking joint control of BMG’s repertoire operation in Music City, overseeing the office and leading the publishing and recording music teams.

Weaver joined BMG to run its Nashville publishing operation in 2013. Loba joined BMG in January 2017 following the company’s acquisition of BBR Music Group. The new joint management structure comes ahead of BMG moving its publishing and recorded music teams together into a new Nashville location in 2019. Weaver’s team recently wrapped Nashville’s awards week with record-setting honors at the SESAC, ASCAP, and BMI Country Awards, and represent a roster of country music’s elite songwriters including Hillary Lindsey, Carly Pearce, Scooter Carusoe, and many others. Loba has been an influential figure in the careers of chart-topping country music artists including Jason Aldean, Dustin Lynch, and Randy Houser, alongside newcomers Jimmie Allen, Lindsay Ell, and Runaway June. He will continue to oversee BBR Music Group’s associated labels Broken Bow Records, Stoney Creek Records, and Wheelhouse Records.

In Los Angeles, Thomas Scherer has been promoted to EVP, Rep. & Marketing, Los Angeles. John Loeffler as been appointed EVP, Repertoire & Marketing, New York.

Masuch said, “The US represents more than 50% of BMG’s business. To give you a sense of scale, if it was a country, our Los Angeles operation would be our biggest territory some way ahead of the UK, Nashville would be our third biggest territory just ahead of Germany and New York would be sixth biggest, just behind France. Putting this new structure in place will empower local management and enable us to better deliver our mission of offering artists and songwriters a genuine alternative to the established companies.

“In a fast-growing company like BMG, one of the great challenges is to ensure you have the optimum structure for each stage of development. This structure prepares the ground for BMG’s next phase of the growth in the US and I would like to congratulate Thomas, John, Kos and Jon as they take on these exciting new roles.”