Heath Johns Promoted at BMG

Heath Johns is on the rise at BMG.

The music industry veteran is named as president of BMG Australia, New Zealand and South-East Asia, reward for his “significant contribution to the company,” reads a statement issued from BMG’s HQ in Germany.

Johns has served as managing director since 2016, when BMG made its entry into Australasia through the acquisition of Alberts.

Based in Sydney, Johns was the Australian company’s first employee. Today, it’s a 28-strong team, with a roster of artists and songwriters including Dope Lemon, Peking Duk, Chet Faker, Dune Rats, Tim Minchin, Angus and Julia Stone, Crowded House, JET, Pacific Avenue, KWAME, Cut Copy, CHAII, Ladyhawke, Wolfmother, Winston Surfshirt, Tyron Hapi and Alison Wonderland.

Among the highlights for the domestic company — a global smash with Masked Wolf’s “Astronaut In The Ocean,” a co-write and production with publishing client Tyron Hapi.

Also, last year recordings client Daniel Johns nailed the highest-selling Australian album release of 2022 with FutureNever, an ARIA No. 1 LP.

The list goes on. In 2020, Johns was awarded the Newton-John medal by the University of Newcastle for services to the arts, and he led an Australian-first scholarship program between the UoN and BMG to create meaningful music industry pathways for First Nations students.

The following year, BMG was named by the Australian Financial Review as one of Australia’s most innovative companies, and in 2022 was identified as one of Australia’s best workplaces.

“Heath Johns personifies so much of what makes BMG great,” comments BMG chief content officer Dominique Casimir.

“With his passion and enthusiasm for music he is a force of nature, but he combines commercial drive with an innate understanding of BMG’s value system and ethical stance. The expansion of his responsibilities is a recognition of his talents.”

Johns’ new role extends his duties into Asia for the first time.

“I remain grateful for the opportunity to launch the Sydney office of this incredible company back in early 2016,” he comments.

“BMG’s globally-renowned service-based approach was the perfect platform to build upon in a region where we’ve consistently executed world-class creative and innovation to take our artists to the world. I’m humbled by this promotion and proud to be part of a very special team of people at BMG in Australia and the world who continue to inspire me.”

Prior to launching BMG here, Johns was Universal Publishing A&R executive.

The global company began in late 2008 with about 150 master recordings held back from the sale of Bertelsmann’s share of the Sony BMG merger to Sony.

Since then, worldwide CEO Hartwig Masuch has built BMG (or Bertelsmann Rights Management) into the fourth-biggest recorded music and publishing company in terms of revenue, trailing only the three majors.

The business recently announced a long-term succession plan for Masuch, BMG’s only CEO since launch.

Earlier this year, parent company Bertelsmann announced that Masuch, who is retiring, would be succeeded by BMG CFO Thomas Coesfeld, with effect from Jan. 1, 2024.