Lyor Cohen's New Music Venture Will Be Funded By Google, Distributed By Warner Music

Posted October 24, 2013 

Lyor Cohen has been working on an innovative artist development and label business, sources say.

Music executive Lyor Cohen, with the help of Google, is creating a music-based company that will have access to a major label and have the appeal of an independent label.

According to Billboard.com, the former Warner Music Group chief executive has reached an agreement with Google Inc. and other investors to fund his new entertainment venture, which, according to sources, will most likely distributed by Atlantic Records, a subsidiary of Warner Music Group.

The company will have access to a major label’s marketing and distribution departments but will function like an independent label. Cohen, who left Warner Music Group in 2012 to “move on to the next big thing,” has been working to build an innovative artist development and label business fit for the twenty-first century, as per Billboard.com.

Todd Moscowitz, former president of Warner Bros Records, and Kevin Liles, former president of Def Jam Recordings, are partnering with Cohen for the new music-centric company.

Before his departure last year, Cohen had held the position of Warner Music Group’s chairman and chief executive officer since 2004. In a 2006 Los Angeles Times article, Cohen’s leadership was described as “innovative.” The article also said that, “Under Cohen, Warner Music has thrived.”

In September 2006, Cohen oversaw the “first time a major record company [had] licensed content to YouTube,” as per New York Times, when he agreed to let YouTube show videos by WMG artists in exchange for advertising revenue.

The 6-foot-5-inch mogul is responsible for bringing in multi-platinum artists such as Jay Z, Redman, Method Mad, DMX and Kanye West to Def Jam Recordings during his time with the label.