CIO interview: Ralph Munsen, CIO, Warner Music Group
In a cloud-native architecture, all communications across IT infrastructure that connect applications and servers should ideally be achieved entirely without requiring data to be exported from the public cloud to an on-premise facility. Exporting data from the public cloud can be extremely expensive. Logically, the cloud is the best place to deploy the tools required for centralised IT management.
Ralph Munsen is global CIO for the Warner Music Group. The company operates in 79 countries and has one CIO and a central IT function to manage its two major divisions – one for recorded music and the other, Warner Chappell Music, the global music publishing arm.
Munsen says both business functions get all their IT services from Warner Music Group’s global IT function, based in New York, with two main satellite offices in London and Los Angeles. He has a two-fold vision for IT: to empower new business models and then to drive operational efficiency.
“My team’s focus is about making our supply chains as efficient and nimble as possible, to support our new business models,” he says. “The key is agility. It’s how we contribute to the bottom line, monetise new business and grow revenue.”
The Covid lockdown put a stop to live music events and concerts, but Warner Music Group has been exploring how to run virtual concerts. For instance, in September, the Grammy Award-winning band Twenty One Pilots launched its sold-out Takeøver Tour with an interactive virtual concert experience, powered by Roblox Technology. The virtual concert included a dynamic set list dictated by fans in real time and custom-designed virtual merchandise.
The central IT function provides systems to support finance, royalties recognition, distribution and local A&R (artists and repertoire) to discover artists and marketing. Given that the music industry has gone digital, Munsen says Warner Music Group has shifted from manufacturing CDs and vinyl records and their distribution to digital music.
“Warner Music Group is a company that deals in IP [intellectual property]. A master recording is digital,” he says. “In terms of cost and ease of use, it makes sense to have everything virtual.”
Given that the company’s products are no longer physical CDs and vinyl records, for Munsen, there is no reason why physical, on-premise IT equipment is needed to support business operations. Embracing digital means it is possible for Warner Music Group to take advantage of the cloud to deliver IT services for the whole company.
Munsen says the company is uniquely united to cloud-based computing. “It’s the same cost as on-prem, but there are less headaches,” he adds.
“Centrally, we provide hosting for local desktop services, finance, revenue recognition, royalties and distribution of assets,” says Munsen. Most of what the company does is big data. When an artist’s tracks are distributed on a music distribution platform such as Spotify, Warner receives a count of how many times each track has been played, which feeds into its royalty systems. Data is also made available for marketing. Staff in regional offices have a mixture of MacBook and Microsoft Surface laptops and iPads. There are also some virtual desktops. As part of his quest to deliver IT centrally, Munsen asked the IT team to simplify networking.
