MLC appoints Warner exec Kris Ahrend as its new CEO

By Emmanuel Legrand

MLC's Kris Ahrend

Kris Ahrend has been appointed CEO of the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC), the new rights management organisation set up to license and administer mechanical rights in the US. After stints at Sony Music and Sony BMG Music Entertainment, Ahrend joined Warner Music Group's Rhino Entertainment. 

  In 2013, he helped set up within WMG a legal, financial, and administrative shared services organisation. In 2016, he was promoted to President of US Shared Services at WMG, overseeing the operations of 15 different functional teams. Ahrend will work from the MLC's offices in Nashville.

  MLC Board Chair Alisa Coleman said Ahrend was selected by MLC's Board after "a competitive process." She added that "both his background and vision stood out amongst many qualified candidates. The unique combination of his experience with license administration, his tenure as a business and legal affairs executive in the music industry, and his most recent involvement in leading the design and operation of a large client service organisation makes him well-suited to operate the MLC."

  Ahrend said: “We will provide songwriters and publishers unprecedented transparency, rights, and the ability to claim what is theirs. Through the MLC, we are committed to improving the system for everyone.”