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Sony Restructures Sales, Distribution Functions
Sony is the third major to restructure sales and distribution, following EMI Recorded Music and Warner Music Group. The Sony move differs in that all of its labels have one shared sales services arm. The changes show an industry trying Ads by Google
Time & Attendance- Retail Enterprise-class Time & Attendance Suite for Large, Complex Retailers to figure out how to most effectively ship records to a consolidating account base in a business with a shrinking revenue base. The restructuring of Sony Music Entertainment's U.S. sales and distribution functions will align the Sony team with what retailers are doing to reach the consumer. Tom Donnarumma has been named executive VP of the Sony Music Label Group—a newly created shared-services sales team—and Bill Frohlich, executive VP of Sony Music Distribution Donnarumma says the main aim of the restructuring was to tear down the walls between the labels and distribution so that when the company approached its customer base, it did so with one voice.
"Customers had been saying that it takes too long for decisions," Frohlich says. "So we wanted to align our staffs more with selling and what our customer base is doing."
Distribution layers were removed to make it more efficient and improve communication, Frohlich says. The division is now geographically, rather than departmentally, based. Job responsibilities shifted in an effort to change the company's culture. The new structure is geared to empower people in the field to make their own decisions, Frohlich adds. Donnarumma, formerly senior VP of sales at the Columbia Records Group, reports to Don Ienner, president of Sony Music Entertainment. Frohlich, formerly senior VP of sales for the Epic Records Group, reports to Robert M. Bowlin, corporate executive VP at Sony Music Entertainment. Reporting to Donnarumma in the Sony Label Group are Dale Libby, senior VP of sales for Sony Nashville, and Marc Offenbach, senior VP of sales for Sony Classical.
Michael Block, senior VP of sales at Columbia, pulls double-duty as Donnarumma's right-hand man, overseeing label sales and the regional sales team; Romeo Thomas is senior director of Epic.
Block oversees the regional staff of Michelle Tagliere, who handles the East Coast; Tyler Pittman, who handles the Southeast and Minneapolis; Glenn Frese, who handles the West Coast; and Denise Moreno, who handles the Central region and also works to bring focus to the Wal-Mart account.
Sony Music Distribution, meanwhile, has three regional VPs: Laurel Polson, who heads field sales in the West; Denny Kennedy, who heads field sales in the Central region; and Jim Lucas, who heads field sales in the East. Colin Willis is VP of sales. He oversees Anderson, Handleman, Wal-Mart, and Kmart.
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