We’ve been hearing the rumors for days, and have now confirmed that Stephen Bryan has joined YouTube as Head Of Label Relations. He will report directly to YouTube Global Head Of Music Lyor Cohen. The two worked together at Warner Music prior to Boyd joining SoundCloud in 2014.
“At YouTube, we have over a billion viewers and thousands of label partners and Stephen is going to be the bridge that brings them together,” Cohen said in a statement. “As that crucial link, he’s going to help labels and artists dream up new opportunities to reach fans around the world.”
At SoundCloud, Bryan was responsible for getting the label licensing deals need to move Soundcloud from user-generated content to the launch of a full fledged music streamer SoundCloud Go.
The confirmation that Boyd had joined YouTube came from Marni Greenberg, YouTube’s new Head of Music Communications. Greenberg just joined YouTube this week after a stint in communications at Spotify.