Heralded digital music chief at EMI out after only 11 months

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EMI Music said its head of digital music, Douglas Merrill, was leaving the company he joined less than a year ago, and his business unit would be integrated into the label’s operations.

The former Google chief information officer’s decision to join EMI in April was heralded as a major coup for the music label. In interviews, Merrill talked excitedly about the company’s embrace of digital technology and its transformation to a services company that could profit from small bands, as well as giants like the band Coldplay.

Merrill could not be reached Monday for comment.

In announcing Merrill’s departure, EMI Music Chief Executive Elio Leoni-Sceti said that digital music sales now account for 20% of the company’s revenue and that the business would no longer be run as a stand-alone operation.

Leoni-Sceti announced that the company had promoted Cory Ondrejka to the newly created position of executive vice president of digital marketing. Ondrejka joined EMI in June from Second Live. The company’s CEO described him as ‘a highly talented executive with a passion for music and a unique technology-based skill set.’

-- Dawn C. Chmielewski