Virgin Music Group, Universal Music Group‘s indie artist and label services arm, has promoted Hannah Thompson-Waitt to Senior Vice President of Commercial Strategy.
Thompson-Waitt, who previously served as Vice President of Commercial Strategy, will now oversee Virgin’s entire US Commercial division, leading streaming strategy, release analysis, and fan acquisition initiatives across the company’s roster of independent artists and labels.
Zack Gershen, Executive Vice President, Global Commercial & Digital Strategy, said: “Hannah has an incredible ability to communicate and connect with our diverse group of label and artist partners.
“She has been key in delivering innovative commercial strategies and we look forward to her making even greater contributions in this new role.”
Since joining Virgin, Thompson-Waitt has led commercial initiatives for several projects, including Clairo‘s Charm album, which debuted at No. 8 on the Billboard 200, and St. Vincent‘s All Born Screaming, which secured three Grammy Awards earlier this year. She has also worked with Amyl and the Sniffers, David Kushner, Tom Odell and on Tove Lo’s recent collaboration with SG Lewis.
Prior to Virgin, she served as Vice President of Digital Marketing at mtheory, the artist development and services company co-founded by Virgin Music Group co-CEOs J.T. Myers and Nat Pastor, and acquired by UMG in 2022.
Thompson-Waitt’s entry into the music industry started in 2014 when she launched her own K-pop media company while completing graduate studies. She then moved to Seoul, where where she became fluent in Korean and developed English-language resources for the growing global K-pop fan community.
“Hannah has an incredible ability to communicate and connect with our diverse group of label and artist partners.”
Zack Gershen
Thompson-Waitt also serves on the advisory board of Queer Capita, a non-profit focused on developing and increasing visibility for LGBTQ+ professionals in the music industry.
As part of her new role, Thompson-Waitt will relocate from New York City to Virgin Music’s Los Angeles headquarters.
“I’m incredibly grateful for this opportunity and for the trust that Zack Gershen and the Virgin Music Group team has placed in me and feel lucky to have gotten to learn and grow under the tutelage of Nat, JT, Zack, Jeremy, and Jacqueline over the years,” said Thompson-Waitt.
“It’s been an honor to work with such a talented roster of artists and partners, and I’m excited to lead our exceptional commercial team in the US as we continue to break new ground in connecting artists with fans in innovative and meaningful ways.”
Hannah Thompson-Waitt
“It’s been an honor to work with such a talented roster of artists and partners, and I’m excited to lead our exceptional commercial team in the US as we continue to break new ground in connecting artists with fans in innovative and meaningful ways.”
The promotion marks the latest executive move at Virgin Music after the company appointed Adrian Pope as Executive Vice President, Digital Business & Global Partner Relations, last month.
In December, Mark Robinson, formerly of Paramount Global, was named to the newly-created position of Executive Vice President, Global Business and Legal Affairs.
Over the past year, Virgin Music has made several notable appointments including Cindy James to the position of General Manager of Virgin’s North American operations, Nick Ghelakis and Nicole Thomas to Co-Country Managers of its South African division, and Justin Bumper Reeve to Senior Vice President of Global Sync.
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