Bronfman shifts to chairman at Warner Music

Warner Music Group is shuffling a pair of top executive roles, as former CEO Edgar Bronfman, Jr., has been named chairman of the board of directors and ex-chairman Stephen F. Cooper has been elected as WMG's CEO.Flip in duties comes in the wake of Access Industries' acquisition of WMG for $3.3 billion (Daily Variety, July 21).Bronfman explained in a statement, "Given my desire to focus on growth opportunities and Steve's extensive background in management across a wide array of companies and industries, I am grateful that Steve accepted the offer to change roles and to serve as our CEO.I look forward to continuing our successful partnership."Cooper is also a member of the supervisory board of Lyondell/Basell Industries, the Dutch petrochemical firm owned by Access Industries, and a managing partner of equity firm Cooper Investment Partners.Additionally, Thomas H. Lee, previously a WMG board member, has been elected as a new director of the company, increasing the board's size from nine to 10 members. Lee's private equity firm, Thomas H. Lee Capital, was a partner in the 2004 purchase of WMG from Time Warner.The music firm also announced Friday that Lyor Cohen and Cameron Strang would remain in place as chairman-CEO of recorded music and chairman-CEO of Warner/Chappell Music. Both men will report directly to Cooper. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com