His tenure at Warner Music Group was rocky, but maybe Live Nation will prove the better corporate fit. Early this morning, the freshly-acquired BigChampagne signed the paperwork on Ethan Kaplan, a music technologist and former SVP of Emerging Technology at Warner Music Group. And with that, Kaplan is now member of the Live Nation family and celebrating a much different Christmas
The news was confirmed to Digital Music News early this morning by BigChampagne CEO - and now LiveNation.com GM - Eric Garland. According to Garland, Kaplan will be the new 'Head of Products,' which then begs the next question, 'what products exactly?'
For now, the paint is still drying on this one. But regardless of the exact job description, Kaplan will be another brain addressing a number of pressing problems at Live Nation, including unfilled cheap seats, pricing problems, and even pressure from competing ticketing platforms.
Sounds like a complicated mess of fun, and these gigs are really tough to come by. So how did a guy like Kaplan - who had an extended lapse after WMG - score this gig exactly? Knowing people helps, but so does keeping a presence in the industry. Kaplan is undoubtedly a smart guy, but his headstrong technologicial ideas were well-known, on his blog or in the press. This is a name that didn't disappear, or jump ship to another, more promising employment sector.
Separately, other names are also floating around as new BigChampagne hires, with announcements expected to be imminent.
Source
Posted 12/2011
