NEWTON ANNOUNCED AT THE TOWER

Now it's official: Ashley Newton has been appointed President of Capitol Music Group and EVP of Creative/Special Projects for UMG, Steve Barnett and Lucian Grainge have announced.

In his role at the Tower, Newton (formerly prexy at Columbia, where he previously worked under Barnett until the latter took the reins at Capitol) will work with Barnett and team on the company's creative direction, while he will consult on film, TV and other projects for UMG.

Barnett praised his fellow Brit as "one of the most artist-friendly, committed and successful creative executives in music, and a fierce proponent for taste and aesthetics."

"The revitalization of Capitol is no longer an aspiration, it’s a reality," declared Grainge. "And now, as we embark on Capitol’s next phase of growth, we do so with Ashley Newton, a great addition to the company’s stellar management team led by Steve Barnett. With Ashley, we continue our strategy of having our company’s key positions held by executives with incredible creative track records and with deep artist development experience. As one of the industry’s most respected and accomplished executives, I’m looking forward to Ashley’s contributions at Capitol as well as UMG."

Newton, for his part, hailed Barnett and Grainge as "true leaders who define excellence within our industry, and we share a philosophy that music must always remain the prevailing priority. They have provided me with the opportunity of a lifetime, and it is a real honor to be joining them and their teams in such multi-faceted roles within the two companies."

The veteran exec started out as an A&R man at Island under Chris Blackwell, later becoming Co-Managing Director of Virgin U.K. and Co-Prexy of Virgin U.S. as well as EVP of A&R at RCA. He joined Columbia in 2010. His major signings over the years include The Spice Girls, The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk and Pharrell Williams, and he's worked on projects with a who's who of superstars, including Adele, David Bowie, Foo Fighters and countless others.