YouTube Music is on a worldwide recruitment blitz for senior executives

YouTube Music clearly has designs on becoming a truly global player in the subscription streaming space.

At a time when Spotify is saying goodbye to a string of key staff like Troy Carter – and consolidating creator-facing departments as a result – YouTube‘s global head of music, Lyor Cohen (pictured), might just be going in the opposite direction.

YouTube is currently advertising for more than 15 newly-created senior music roles, MBW has spotted, across territories such as the US, Latin America, Germany, Japan and Singapore.

The most senior positions include a Director for YouTube/Google Play Music in Asia-Pacific, based in Singapore.

This vacancy requires ’17 years of music industry experience with experience as a leader within the ecosystem’, and will see the triumphant candidate ‘drive the future of [YouTube Music] and the industry through 10x thinking’.

In Japan, Google is hiring for a Head of Music Partnerships for YouTube Japan, where candidates must offer ’15 years of relevant business experience in music and/or licensing music rights for digital music, broadcast, or internet businesses’.

Although this role isn’t strictly a YouTube Music position, applicants are told their responsibilities will include ‘initiating, structuring, and negotiating high-impact strategic [music] content partnerships’.

(YouTube Music publicly launched in 17 territories last month, including the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, Mexico, South Korea, Russia and Spain – but not Japan.) 


In terms of LatAm, YouTube Music seems to be on a particular drive to license content.

In addition for vacancies as Content Partnerships Manager for Latam (based in Mexico) and a Latam-focused Manager of Music Publishing Partnerships (based in Miami), YouTube is currently hiring for a Head of Music Programming in Brazil – who will be responsible for ‘planning and executing the regional strategy for Music Programming on YouTube… [as well as] planning and delivering a regionally relevant annual programming calendar for YouTube Music’.

Over in the US, there are a number of intriguing roles opening up – not least a Head of Catalog position, based in New York or LA.

The job, which requires 12 years of music industry experience, will see the successful candidate ‘develop YouTube strategies for catalog content working with catalog labels and legacy artists, helping them fully utilize the YouTube tool set to build and engage their fans’.

(Has Mr. Cohen spotted an opportunity amid the youth-fixated strategies of certain other streaming services?)


Other new US-based YouTube roles available include a Manager, Music Label Partnerships based in New York – which also requires 12 years of experience – in addition to an opening for a Manager, Product Partnerships, Music and Premium Subscription who will “drive growth of YouTube Music and Premium Subscription products through partnerships across industry verticals”.

Elsewhere in the States, YouTube is looking for a Technology Manager for Music Business Intelligence, a Public Policy Manager for YouTube Music, plus a Music Programmer Manager in Nashville to “develop and execute the strategy for growing engagement on specific music genres on YouTube”.

No surprise, the latter job requires someone who has “five years of experience in the music industry, with a focus on Country music, both contemporary and classic”.

Over in Europe, YouTube is recruiting for a Berlin-based Manager, Music Publishing Partnerships for both Google Play and YouTube Music.

You can see the full gamut of YouTube’s new music-related vacancies, many of which were posted yesterday, through here.

One opening you won’t find on that list, however, is for a UK boss of YouTube Music.

MBW has heard rumors that Lyor Cohen might just be plotting behind-the-scenes to appoint someone in that role in the not-too-distant future.

Watch this space…Music Business Worldwide

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