Springer high-flier jumps to head DG
mainDeutsche Grammophon has poached Axel Springer’s head of online to be label president.
Dr Clemens Trautmann, 38, has been chief executive of Axel Springer’s Immonet online and developed several other businesses for the German media concern. But when DG’s headhunters came knocking, Clemens couldn’t resist. A former clarinet player, a student of Sabine Meyer with several recordings to his credit, he rose to the bait of a cultural giant struggling with new media.
He is the first DG president in memory without executive experience in the music business. That may well be to his advantage.
So, what else is new? The major recording labels have been run by nincompoops for decades now. They change CEO’s every few years, they fire idiots and replace them with morons, etc. They bring in folks from other industries, thinking that their “fresh perspectives” will revitalize the music business. It NEVER works. The party is over, period. You can’t revitalize a cemetery.