Jonas Nachsin, Former President of Roadrunner Records, Appointed GM of UMG’s Spinefarm Records

Jonas Nachsin, who enjoyed a 13-year stint as president of Roadrunner Records, has been appointed the worldwide GM of Universal Music’s hard rock and metal label, Spinefarm Records.

Under Nachsin’s leadership, Spinefarm will increase investment in A&R and build its U.S. and European teams.

“I’m definitely going to be looking for some good people to bring in and add to the energy here as we build Spinefarm into a real label force,” Nachsin tells Billboard.biz, noting that he’s also looking to sign and develop acts on a worldwide basis.

Nachsin, who stepped down from his position at Roadrunner last year,  is based in New York and reports to Universal Music president of global marketing Andrew Kronfeld. He will also work closely with Universal Music Finland managing director Jarkko Nordlund to coordinate the Finnish label’s roster. Spinefarm executives Dante Bonutto (U.K.), Leo Nicholas (U.K.) and Luis Alvarenga (U.S.) will report to Nachsin.

Spinefarm was founded in Finland in 1990 and has been part of Universal Music since 2002.

In a press release, Kronfeld said, “Hard rock and metal is such a dynamic area of music, with so many passionate bands and even more passionate fans, and we have very ambitious plans for Spinefarm Records. Nobody knows this part of the business as well as Jonas and so we are delighted that he has joined our team so we can grow Spinefarm and make it the most vibrant and trusted label in heavy rock music.” At Roadrunner, Nachsin oversaw the label’s expansion and success of artists like Nickelback, Slipknot, Rush, and Korn.

Of his new position, Nachsin said, “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to build Spinefarm Records into a world class destination for rock and metal artists. There is an energetic and dedicated group of people at the label already, and we’ll be expanding our staff as we reach out to the artist community to begin new partnerships, as well as working hard on the roster we now have. I’m looking forward to working with Andrew Kronfeld, an executive whom I greatly admire, and the new Caroline set-up to drive this company forward.”

Source: Billboard