German takes charge at Decca

Dr Alexander Buhr becomes managing director of Decca Classics from today.

A rising star at Universal Music, he reinvented Mercury Classics as a successful crossover label with such artists as Miloš Karadaglić, Yundi, Tori Amos, Olafur Arnalds, Andreas Ottensamer and Mari and Hakon Samuelsen. He will now take control of both labels.

He succeeds Paul Moseley, who has been given a strategic role within Universal. He holds a PhD in Musicology from the University of Hamburg as well as an MBA (SMI Steinbeiss, SDA Bocconi, and Stern School of Business). He will report to Rebecca Allen, Decca Record Group’s Managing Director, who is riding high on Bocelli and Rieu sales.

Dr Buhr has been told to put the identity back into Decca. The brand has got fuzzy.