London, December 11th 2019: Universal Music UK has appointed senior BBC executive Alice Webb as Chief Executive Officer of Eagle Rock Entertainment (now Mercury Studios), a move which will see one of the UK’s most respected media executives take the reins of Universal Music’s world-leading producer and distributor of music programming for broadcast, DVD, Blu-Ray, TV and digital media.
Universal Music UK chairman David Joseph says, “Alice is an outstanding executive whose track record as a commercial and operational leader speaks for itself. The combination of her exceptional eye for creative output and digitally-savvy leadership will help build upon Eagle Rock’s award-winning formula for success in one of our industry’s fastest evolving areas”.
Webb joins from the BBC where she spent 15 years working across a number of departments. From 2011 to 2014, Webb was Chief Operating Officer of BBC North where she successfully orchestrated the biggest BBC move outside of London when key BBC departments including Sport, BBC Children’s, 5 live and BBC Learning moved to Salford. Around 35,000 hours of output a year across TV, Radio and the Red Button are now made in the North, with 3,000 staff based at MediaCityUK. She was also Director of BBC North from May 2016 – May 2019.
Throughout her time at the BBC, and in her most recent role as Director of the Children’s and Education department, Webb has been at the forefront of the organisation’s digital transformation and drive to reach new audiences.
Webb says: “Universal Music is an extraordinary organisation – it puts creativity at the heart of everything it does – which is why after 15 happy years at the BBC it is a privilege to be joining Universal Music and Eagle Rock Entertainment. The opportunity to tell the stories of some of the world’s best known artists – past, present and future – is one I couldn’t turn down”.
Founded in 1997, Eagle Rock Entertainment is a multi-award-winning company which releases over 50 productions a year and controls the distribution of over 2,000 hours of music programming, and is now operating as Mercury Studios following an ambitious rebranding and restructure. The catalogue includes work by award-winning filmmakers such as Martin Scorsese, Brett Morgan, Stanley Nelson, Paul Dugdale, Bob Smeaton, Jeremy Marre, Mike Figgis, Leslie Woodhead and Michael Epstein. Eagle Rock works with a wide spectrum of artists including the Rolling Stones, Eminem, Madonna, Eric Clapton, Muse, Steven Wilson, Slash, Iggy Pop, Jeff Beck, Paul McCartney, Shania Twain and Van Morrison.
Eagle Rock has been awarded some of the industry’s most prestigious honors, including Emmy, Rose D’or and Grammy Awards and more than 30 multi-platinum, 50 platinum and 90 gold sales certifications. Most recently, their Miles Davis documentary Birth Of The Cool, which was an official selection at 2019’s Sundance Film Festival, secured a nomination for Best Music Documentary at the 2020 edition of the Grammys. This followed a nomination for Above Us Only Sky, the documentary about the Imagine period of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s lives, which was recognised in the Arts Programming category at the International Emmy Awards. The division has also released the UK’s best-selling live music DVD of 2019, Take That Odyssey: Greatest Hits Live, according to the Official Charts Company.
ENDS
