Ole Obermann & Rachel Newman Named Apple Music Co-Heads

Apple Music has named Ole Obermann and Rachel Newman as the company’s new co-heads, Billboard has confirmed.

The news was first reported by Music Business Worldwide.

Obermann, who left his role as global head of music business development at ByteDance earlier this year, worked at the Chinese company for more than five years, having started as vp/global head of music at TikTok. Before that, he worked at Warner Music Group as chief digital officer/executive vp of strategy and business development and at Sony Music, where he worked on striking licensing renewals with Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and other DSPs. During his time at TikTok, the platform became a prime music discovery engine, leading to a massive shift in the way music was created and marketed. It also went through a tense period with the record labels, including a prolonged standoff with Universal Music Group that ended when the two companies struck a licensing deal last May. Obermann was succeeded in his role at ByteDance by Tracy Gardner.

Newman, meanwhile, is an Apple Music veteran, having been with the streaming platform for more than 16 years, most recently as global head of content and editorial. This year, she was named to Billboard‘s Women in Music list alongside several of her colleagues. “We have really leaned into one of our most core attributes as a company this past year: weaving the humanities into everything we do,” she told Billboard at the time.

Along with its continued role as the sponsor for the Super Bowl halftime show, Apple Music’s recent initiatives include its 100 Best Albums editorial initiative and its Apple Music Live series, through which it has produced live performances for artists including Björk, SZA, Camila Cabello, Jennifer Lopez and Kacey Musgraves.