TuneCore, which paid out over $400m to indie artists last year, has a new CEO: Andreea Gleeson

TuneCore, one of the world’s largest DIY music distribution platforms, has promoted Andreea Gleeson to the position of CEO.

Gleeson is the first CEO of TuneCore since Scott Ackerman, who exited the role in April last year.

In the wake of Ackerman’s departure, New York-based Gleeson and her colleague, Matt Barrington, were jointly promoted to co-heads of TuneCore.

Now, with Gleeson upped into the vacant CEO role, Barrington maintains his position as TuneCore’s Chief Operating Officer (COO).

TuneCore has been owned by Paris-headquartered Believe since 2015, the same year that Gleeson joined the company as Head of Marketing.

In the 12 months of 2020, according to Believe financial documents, TuneCore collected – and then paid out to indie artists – approximately €365 million ($412 million) in royalties and other related income.

TuneCore distributes 100% of the royalty money it collects to artists; its bottom line is reliant on subscriptions paid by its members, which amounted to €32.4 million (approx $37 million) in consolidated revenues last year.

According to Midia Research, DIY artists uploading their music via the likes of TuneCore, DistroKid and SoundCloud generated $1.2 billion globally last year – the first time this sector has collectively broken the billion-dollar annual milestone.

This DIY/“artists direct” sector saw a 34.1% growth in annual revenues in 2020, says Midia. (Watch out for TuneCore, under its new CEO Gleeson, to smash past the $500 million annual gross revenue marker in 2021.)

Gleeson, who steps up from her prior role as Chief Revenue Officer at TuneCore, will report to Believe CEO, Denis Ladegaillerie, in her new role.

“This promotion recognizes Andreea’s leadership skills, expertise across product, technology, and marketing, as well as her keen understanding of artist and label needs during a period of accelerated growth in the independent music market.”

Denis Ladegaillerie, Believe

Stated Ladegaillerie, “When Andreea joined TuneCore five years ago, she brought with her a fresh perspective and proceeded to challenge music industry norms while continuing to innovate and build the company. This promotion recognizes her leadership skills, expertise across product, technology, and marketing, as well as her keen understanding of artist and label needs during a period of accelerated growth in the independent music market.

“Andreea’s elevation to CEO also underscores Believe’s commitment to gender parity and empowering female leaders. I’m thrilled that she will lead TuneCore, as we shape the future of music around the world to best serve and develop independent artists.”

“I’m inspired daily by the talented artists and industry leading team who make TuneCore the most innovative and forward thinking independent digital music distributor in the world.”

Andreea Gleeson, TuneCore

Commented Gleeson: “I’m inspired daily by the talented artists and industry leading team who make TuneCore the most innovative and forward thinking independent digital music distributor in the world. I truly believe in our mission – in step with our parent company Believe – to serve artists at every stage of development and will continue to build TuneCore to be the destination where artists can start, grow and manage their careers, while working to level the playing field for all independent artists.”

Over the past year, Gleeson has led key strategic partnerships with YouTube (YouTube Shorts), Facebook (Independent Artist Program) and Spotify (Discovery Mode) at TuneCore.

Under her leadership, TuneCore has expanded to operate in 14 countries across four continents. In the first half of 2021 alone, TuneCore launched new offices in Brazil, Russia, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Earlier this year, Gleeson created and launched TuneCore Rewards and TuneCore Certified – two artist education and recognition programs which aim to “level the playing field” for independent artists.

Gleeson came to TuneCore after growing Hudson Bay and Lord & Taylor’s eCommerce business from the ground up, which eventually surpassed the sales volumes of the retail giants’ flagship stores.

She received her Bachelor of Business Administration from Pace University.Music Business Worldwide