Believe is reshaping its leadership to merge product, technology, and operations under a single group chief operating officer, a move designed to accelerate tool delivery for independent artists, labels, and publishers globally. The distribution giant also saw Suno and Luminate secure critical marketing and business development talent, signaling continued investment in artist support infrastructure across the AI and data sectors.
Believe’s Unified Structure Targets 2030 Ambitions
Romain Becker has been named group COO of Believe, reporting directly to founder and CEO Denis Ladegaillerie. Becker, who previously served as president of label and artist solutions and chief product, operations, and marketing services officer, will lead the unification of Believe’s Product, Tech, and Operations organization, which now fully integrates TuneCore. Elsa Bahamonde Bourgain has been appointed president of artist services and label and artist solutions. She will be supported by Emmanuelle de Hosson as vp of label and artist solutions and Grace James as vp of artist services.
Bahamonde Bourgain, who joined Believe in 2021 to run the artist services division, stated the new structure is a game-changer for supercharging artist development. Ladegaillerie emphasized that unifying these organizations is a deliberate choice to sharpen impact through strong synergies, providing the governance and talent needed to deliver on promises to rights holders worldwide and lay foundations for the company’s 2030 ambitions.
Suno and Luminate Expand Artist Support Teams
Suno, the AI music company, hired Grace James as vp and head of artist marketing and editorial, and Christian Bowne as director and head of music business development. James previously held executive vp of creative marketing at Atlantic Records and head of marketing at TIDAL. Bowne spent 16 years at YouTube leading major label business development. James noted that artist expectations are growing while resources often stagnate, making Suno’s artist-centric approach vital for building sustainable careers. Bowne highlighted that technology partnerships create new opportunities for creatives and long-term value for the music ecosystem.
Luminate, the data company powering Billboard’s charts, appointed Brian Czarny as its new chief marketing officer. Czarny previously served as CMO at Jupiter Intelligence, a climate risk analysis firm. He described Luminate as sitting at the intersection of data and the music industry, decoding trends that power decisions across major labels, artists, publishers, and platforms.
The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) also announced its new 2026-27 board of directors, with Barros of Exceleration Music serving as chair, Hopeless Records founder as treasurer, and Rhymesayers Entertainment COO as secretary. Sony Music Publishing promoted Luis Pinilla to senior vp and global head of strategy.
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