Music services firm Kobalt has promoted James Fitzherbert-Brockholes to the role of COO and has hired Tom Sansone to succeed him as its new CFO.
Both executives will report to Kobalt founder and CEO, Willard Ahdrtiz, and will assume their respective roles effective immediately. In his new role as COO, Fitzherbert-Brockholes will be responsible for ensuring the business delivers on the strategic and operational plans across the group. He has been a shareholder and director of Kobalt since 2001.
Sansone joins from the Gilt Groupe, where he served as COO and CFO. Prior to Gilt, Sansone held positions at Price Waterhouse Coopers and Arthur Andersen. As Kobalt’s new CFO, he will lead the firm’s global finance group and support the its aggressive growth plans over the coming years.
Commenting on the appointments, Ahdritz said: “Fitz has been a dedicated leader within Kobalt for many years and has made incredible contributions to the organisation's growth, financial success and overall operational strength; he is the obvious candidate for the chief operating officer role.
“We were very selective in our search to find a new CFO and I am thrilled that Tom has joined us. He has a keen understanding of both tech and media/entertainment industries. His expertise spans across all fundamental areas including forecasting, capital markets, operations and analytics which are relevant to the company’s rapid growth and expansion on a global scale.”
Fitzherbert-Brockholes said: “I am thrilled that I have this opportunity in a new role to help Kobalt, its staff and clients make sure that the coming years continue to be as exciting and successful as the last 15 years have been. I have never felt so optimistic about the role of music the world and the opportunities for artists as now, and I am proud that Kobalt has been at the forefront of delivering that positive change.”
On his new role, Sansone added: “Willard has assembled an incredibly passionate and innovative team that I’m excited to be a part of. As the son of a jazz musician, I personally appreciate the importance of delivering more transparency to the creative community. I’ve always loved being part of businesses that use technology to drive evolution; so I am thrilled to help Kobalt continue to transform the music industry’s value chain in support of the artist.”
