UMG Names Richard Cusick Chief Product Officer, Global E-Commerce

Richard Cusick has been named to the newly created role of chief product officer, global e-commerce at Universal Music Group (UMG), the company announced Tuesday (Feb. 22).

In his new position, Cusick will build a product team tasked with translating UMG’s business objectives into products and experiences across e-commerce, web3 and direct artist and fan-focused initiatives. He will additionally serve as a key liaison and partner between UMG’s executive management team and the engineering organization. He’ll be based in Santa Monica and report to Richelle Parham, UMG president, global e-commerce and business development.

Cusick has two decades of experience working at the intersection of media and technology at companies including Gemstar-TV Guide (now Xperi), Yahoo! and digital comedy network CH Media. He additionally spearheaded the acquisition of six companies that became entertainment industry data provider Gracenote, where he served as chief product officer.

During his tenure at Gracenote, which was acquired by Nielsen in February 2017, Cusick helped Amazon, Apple, Google and other companies scale their music and video services using Gracenote’s advanced search and discovery solutions. At Nielsen, he and his product team relaunched Grabix, the company’s local TV measurement product. He is also a named inventor on two patent applications in the mobile video and connected TV advertising space.

Cusick was most recently an advisor to Audible Magic, a company that provides a content-ID solution for social and streaming platforms including SoundCloud, DailyMotion and Facebook.

In a statement, Parham said that with Cusick onboard, UMG “will accelerate” its “efforts to bring fans even closer to their favorite artists and music through expanded products and ‘always on’ experiences.”

Cusick added, “Music has the unique ability to cross borders, cultures and languages to build highly engaged global fan communities. UMG is already a leader in creating exciting products and experiences for their artists to engage with their fans around the world and I look forward to working with Richelle and the senior management team to help build on that track record of excellence and deliver growth.”