Atlantic Music Group Names Dave Rocco Chief Creative Officer

Atlantic Music Group has promoted veteran executive Dave Rocco to the newly created role of chief creative officer, where he will oversee global creative strategy for the label group. Rocco will continue to lead the team overseeing visual creative elements — including video, artwork, advertising, and overall creative direction for AMG’s roster — while reporting directly to chairman and CEO Elliot Grainge.

Rocco joined AMG in 2024 as president of creative and has spearheaded campaigns for artists such as Cardi B, FKA twigs, Don Toliver, Bailey Zimmerman and ROSÉ. 

His career spans leadership roles at Universal Music Group, where he served as evp of creative and as chief creative officer at Republic Records, and at Spotify, where he launched Artist Marketing and became global head of label & artist relations. At Spotify, he introduced initiatives like Fans First and the Best New Artist Party. Before entering the streaming sphere, Rocco spent a decade in advertising at Deutsch LA and BBDO New York. 

Rocco’s music industry journey began at age 15 at New York’s top 40 station Z100, later moving into talent scouting and A&R roles at Epic and Atlantic. He has earned multiple accolades, including on Billboard‘s Power 100 list, and served on GLAAD’s board of directors.

Grainge praised Rocco’s impact, saying he has “played a crucial role in reenergizing and reimagining” the label group, adding, “His creative contributions to our organization and to our artists have been immeasurable. I’m happy to be able to promote him to this important new leadership role.”

Rocco commented: “I’ve always believed that artists are their own creative directors and have unique and individual needs. Our job as creative executives is to help them realize their vision and support them however we can.”

Rocco’s elevation comes as Atlantic’s parent company, Warner Music Group, accelerates its AI strategy through major partnerships. WMG recently settled lawsuits with AI music startups Suno and Udio, signing licensing agreements that will enable both to soon launch authorized AI music platforms. Additionally, WMG partnered with Stability AI to develop artist-friendly generative tools.