Almost a year after ousting long-serving chairman and chief executive Denis Handlin, recording industry giant Sony Music has announced his replacement.
Vanessa Picken, who worked for rival record label EMI in Australia a decade ago and now heads independent record label [PIAS] in Los Angeles, will return home to lead Sony’s Australian and New Zealand operations.
Vanessa Picken has been named as the new chair and CEO of Sony Music Australia.
“I’m delighted to be coming home to join Sony Music Australia and New Zealand to take the company into a transformative next chapter. Our strategies will focus on music, allyship, and innovation, with a global mindset,” Picken said in a statement.
“Sony Music has a renowned reputation for empowering its artists and creators, breaking down traditional barriers to put them at the centre of everything it does. We will reaffirm our commitment to the discovery and development of new and emerging talent across both countries, as well as expanding the commercial and creative opportunities for our roster of artists locally and internationally.”
Picken’s appointment follows a tumultuous 18 months for Sony in Australia which saw the revelation of a toxic workplace culture that ended with Handlin’s sacking on June 21 last year.
This was followed by the departure of at least three other senior executives at the company including Handlin’s son Pat, corporate and legal affairs boss Mark Stebnicki and the head of Australian artist marketing Wayne Ringrow. The company’s head of commercial music, Tony Glover, was fired in April after complaints were made about him.
Denis Handlin left Sony Music nearly one year ago.Credit:Sasha Woolley
The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age do not suggest the Handlins, Stebnicki or Ringrow were directly involved in any wrongdoing.
The Australian arm of Sony has been without local leadership since Handlin’s departure, with the US head office overseeing operations.
Picken will be the only female CEO at Australia’s three major labels with George Ash heading Universal Music Australia and Dan Rosen heading Warner Music.
Picken is respected in the Australian music industry. She left EMI to set up her own digital agency Comes With Fries and moved to Los Angeles to head up digital for [PIAS] in 2019 before being appointed managing director three months later.
It’s experience that will come in useful as she takes the reins at Sony Australia where Handlin ruled with an iron fist for four decades and an office where staff are still reeling from a series of seismic allegations of toxic workplace culture.
Among the claims aired by the mastheads last year were allegations from women who had been sexually harassed, bullied, made redundant while on maternity leave as well as allegations of sexual assault.
Accusations were also made that Sony Music staff demanded that artists thank Handlin when accepting awards and were made to apologise publicly if they failed to do so.
Handlin denies any involvement in making people apologise for not thanking him.
Picken will choose her own leadership team as the senior roles that left the business after the scandal are yet to be replaced.
She will also have to tend to the label’s jittery artist roster with a number of acts, including Victorian rapper Illy as well as DJ and producer LDRU, already signing with rival companies, and contracts with high-profile acts such as Amy Shark and Gang of Youths up for renewal.
Picken takes up the new role in September.
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