Republic Elevates Kevin Lipson to Chief Revenue Officer
"With a fresh perspective, he’s constantly looking for unconventional ways to break new artists," says Republic president Jim Roppo.
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Republic has announced the promotion of Kevin Lipson to the newly created position of chief revenue officer, effective immediately, as touted by president and COO Jim Roppo.
In this role, Lipson will lead revenue strategies for artists across Republic Records, Mercury Records, Def Jam Recordings and Island Records through the Republic Corps. Collective. He’ll oversee teams involved in streaming, e-commerce, data, retail, gaming, sports marketing, media planning and catalog initiatives, while also driving innovation campaigns to boost audience and revenue growth.
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The New York-based Lipson is a 28-year veteran of Universal Music Group, having held senior management roles at Republic, Island, Def Jam and Universal Music Group Distribution in both LA and New York. His tenure at Republic — most recently as evp of global commerce and digital strategy — has seen the label earn titles such as Billboard 200 Label of the Year and Billboard Hot 100 Label of the Year, and achieve the industry’s ten biggest streaming weeks of all time.
His team has delivered successful albums for artists like The Weeknd, Metro Boomin and Morgan Wallen, among others. In mid-2022, Lipson’s marketing rollout strategies for Post Malone’s Twelve Carat Toothache album earned him a hat-tip as Billboard‘s executive of the week.
The expanded role, but not title, for Lipson — encompassing revenue strategy at the label group — was initially announced in March as part of the formation of the East Coast-based Republic Corps, designed to compliment UMG’s Interscope Capitol Labels Group out west.
Roppo praised Lipson as a “tenacious” and innovative, adding, “with a fresh perspective, he’s constantly looking for unconventional ways to break new artists and maximize global repertoire revenue for our roster of superstars.”
Lipson thanked Republic’s leadership for their backing and emphasized the collaborative nature of the team. “They support their people here first—which inspires everybody to compete at the highest level while breaking historic industry records,” he noted. “Our team is involved in many different facets of the label, which is inspiring to all. It’s not exclusive to marketing, sales, and data; it’s all-encompassing. Even with all of the incredible success, we’re constantly trying to evolve and better ourselves while staying humble.”
