Longtime music exec Derek Cournoyer is jumping ship from indie music publisher Kobalt to AI music company ElevenLabs.
ElevenLabs said Cournoyer has been appointed Head of Strategy, Music Business Affairs at the company, which operates Eleven Music, an AI music-making platform that rivals Suno and Udio – but uses legally licensed songs to train its AI.
MBW understands that Cournoyer was instrumental in the negotiations between Kobalt and ElevenLabs that led to last year’s partnership between the two companies, under which Kobalt artists can participate in the training of the Eleven Music Pro platform. ElevenLabs also signed a partnership with indie licensing organization Merlin.
In his new role, Cournoyer will be based in Los Angeles and will be “central to shaping ElevenLabs’ music business strategy and managing industry relations across record labels, music publishers and collection societies,” ElevenLabs said.
“Few people understand the intersection of music and AI better than Derek, and we’re ecstatic to have him onboard. He’s been at the forefront of crafting the frameworks for long-term, high-value, and pro-artist partnership between the music industry and AI companies like ElevenLabs,” the company’s General Counsel and Head of Global Affairs, Alex Haskell, said.
“He has a deep understanding of the concerns and needs of artists, songwriters, producers and their teams, as well as the enormous opportunity that companies like ours offer to the creative community.”
Alex Haskell, ElevenLabs
“He has a deep understanding of the concerns and needs of artists, songwriters, producers and their teams, as well as the enormous opportunity that companies like ours offer to the creative community.”
“ElevenLabs has built one of the most advanced and widely respected AI audio platforms in the market.”
Derek Cournoyer, ElevenLabs
Cournoyer had been with Kobalt for around a decade, most recently serving as SVP, Global Digital Business – a position to which he was appointed just last July.
He played a key role in shaping the company’s AI and creator-economy strategies and worked on deals and partnerships with the likes of Meta, TikTok and YouTube.
In a post on LinkedIn announcing his move to ElevenLabs, Cournoyer said he was “excited” to begin work at the company.
“ElevenLabs has built one of the most advanced and widely respected AI audio platforms in the market,” he wrote.
“The progress the team has made speaks for itself, and the clarity, speed, and seriousness with which they’re advancing the technology is exceptional. Joining at this moment feels both timely and meaningful.”
The appointment also arrived four months after ElevenLabssecured strategic investment from chip maker NVIDIA, the world’s most valuable company by market cap, worth around $4.4 trillion as of Tuesday morning (September 23).Music Business Worldwide
