Ed St John Steps Down As ARIA Chair

Only four days after being booted as CEO of Warner Music Australia ‘leaving to explore other opportunities outside the company’; Ed St John has also stepped down from his role as Chairman of the Australian Record Industry Association. In a statement he said he was ‘handing over the reins’ although did not give an ‘official reason’ for his departure. His statement said: “Our mandate has always been to advance our artists and industry rights to achieve a healthy industry that provides Australian music fans with exciting music entertainment and it’s a challenge we have continued to meet.”

The ARIA Board is expected to meet shortly to elect a new Chairman. Board members are generally elected from the big record companies with a token member or two from a smaller/indie label. While membership is funded by the majors through their membership, the organisation tends to be a closed shop that reflects a music industry of yore, based upon record companies shifting units. As the music industry in Australia increasingly finds itself shaped by indie labels, downloading and the live music scene, this represents an opportunity for ARIA to reinvent itself and better reflect the landscape today. Naturally this would put many dinosaurs out of a job – so it won’t happen in a hurry.