Sony BMG Announces Formation of Commercial Music Group

Sony BMG Music Entertainment's Chief Operating Officer, Tim Bowen, has announced the creation of SONY BMG Music

Entertainment's Commercial Music Group; a new division dedicated to capitalizing on the company's strengths in catalog recordings and classical music, and to developing new opportunities in the areas of licensing, strategic marketing and television.
The new Commercial Music Group includes Legacy Recordings, the Strategic Marketing Group, the Custom Marketing Group, Television, and Sony BMG Masterworks.

It was also announced that John Ingrassia would lead the new division in the role of President of Sony BMG Music Entertainment's Commercial Music Group. Mr. Ingrassia is based in New York, and reports to Mr. Bowen.

“The formation of the Commercial Group will enable us to implement comprehensive, long-term strategies designed to reach new audiences and create new opportunities for our vast catalog of archival recordings, as well as for our classical and entertainment divisions," commented Mr. Bowen in a Sony BMG press release.

“John's extensive experience at Columbia Records and recent cross-functional senior management roles at Sony BMG Corporate and the BMG Label Group make him the perfect person to lead this division and build new bridges between key recorded music and entertainment divisions, and the areas of custom products, licensing, and television."

“I look forward to working with everyone in the Commercial Music Group, and with label groups and departments across the company as we identify new ways to build our business in both the physical and digital worlds," added Mr. Ingrassia in the release.

“The creation of the Commercial Music Group represents an important step in integrating all of the different elements of our business, and in advancing our goal of establishing each one of the Group's projects as a major entertainment event."

John Ingrassia has held a number of senior level positions within Sony BMG - as a long-time Sony Music executive and more recently as an executive with the BMG U.S. Label Group. In 1998 he was named Executive Vice President of Columbia Records Group, where he directly oversaw the day-to-day operations of the Group, with specific responsibility for the Sales, International, Financial, Administrative, and New Technologies departments.

Before that, Mr. Ingrassia held the position of Senior Vice President, Columbia Records Group, since 1996. Previously he worked in Sony Music Entertainment's Business Affairs, A&R Administration, and Law departments. Mr. Ingrassia received his J.D. from Stanford Law School in 1985. He graduated with a B.S. from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania in 1982.