Report: Music Exec Tom Corson To EXIT RCA Records

Tom Corson

Tom Corson is leaving RCA Records for Warner Bros. Records, multiple sources tell Variety, although it remains unclear exactly what his title will be. And according to Variety. current chairman and CEO Cameron Strang is expected to stay on in some capacity.

Corson was most recently president and COO of RCA Records, where he worked closely with CEO Peter Edge on an impressively deep roster that spans pop (Justin Timberlake, Miley Cyrus, Britney Spears,  Zayn Malik, Pentatonix), rock (Foo Fighters,  Dave Mathews Band), hip-hop and R&B (A$AP Rocky and the A$AP Mob, Usher, D’Angelo, Miguel), and Latin (Prince Royce, Pitbull and Enrique Iglesias).

He got his start as an intern at IRS Records in the early 1980s before joining A&M, where he was heavily involved in launching Soundgarden. Stints at Capitol, Columbia, Arista and J followed; he and Edge took the reins at RCA in 2011.

With a robust catalog that includes Prince, Fleetwood Mac, Van Morrison, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell and dozens of other greats, Warner is one of the most storied labels in music-business history, yet it has struggled for both market share and a solid identity for the better part of two decades, since the company’s legendary leaders Mo Ostin and Lenny Waronker stepped down after a corporate battle within Warner Music in 1994.

While the company has seen a resurgence in the past couple of years — 10 of the label’s artists have had Top 10 albums in the past 12 months, including Michael Buble, Fleet Foxes, Gorillaz, The Head & the Heart, Mac Miller, and Mastodon — the company has largely relied on legacy: the remainder of those Top albums came from veteran or legacy artists Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Green Day and Linkin Park.