April 23, 2008

By By Billboard Staff

EMI Music restructured its U.S. radio promotion efforts today and cut staffers at the Capitol Music Group.

Among those let go were Virgin Records VP of promotion Dave Reynolds, Virgin director of promotion operations Jordan Rosenblatt, Virgin Boston regional James MacDonald, Capitol Chicago regional Amy Kaplan and Capitol Florida regional Ric Austin. Additionally, several assistants have been let go from the Los Angeles office, as well as senior manager of promotion operations Jen Kelly.

Sources say executive VP of promotion for the Capitol Music Group Greg Thompson has been elevated to the corporate level and will lead promotion efforts across all labels in the U.S., with the exception of EMI Christian. Thompson, the former executive VP at Island Def Jam Music Group, joined the Capitol Music Group in February to lead the Capitol and Virgin promotion staffs.

In January, details of the company's restructuring were announced, including the layoff of 2,000 employees and the breaking down of label walls into three groups: an A&R group; a global music services group comprised of operations, sales and marketing; and a support services group comprised of finance, human resources and other back office functions. The restructuring is expected to be implemented by June.

Additional reporting by Kevin Carter, Keith Berman at R&R.

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