New Hires Expand WMC A&R Team

By External Source

With the stated intention of expanding its roster with new hip-hop, R&B and pop acts, Warner Music Canada has hired Charlie B and Nicholas Causarano as A&R Directors and promoted team member George Kalivas to the same rank.

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Charlie B is the stage name of Ajay Saxena. He is a DJ and producer whose career in music started with monthly residencies at clubs across North America and regular appearances on the BET 106 & PARK TV show. Mentored by the likes of DJ Drama, DJ Khaled and Drake, last month he released his debut album Across the Board, featuring Duvy, Haviah Mighty, Lil Berete, NorthSideBenji, Pressa and Roy Woods.  He is also involved in fundraising projects, notably raising $50,000 for the Toronto Black Health Alliance.

Nicholas Causarano joins WM Canada after running his boutique artist management company Cause & Effect, which operates in Toronto and Los Angeles.  Since its creation, the company’s roster of songwriters and producers has contributed to hits for such artists as Alessia Cara, bülow, Hailee Steinfeld, Leah Kate, renforshort, Travis Barker, and Wiz Khalifa.  He previously worked at various record labels, as well as in the music supervision departments of network TV shows. 

George Kalivas has worked in the marketing department at WM Canada for more than five years and in his new role, as A&R Director, he will be splitting his time between creative and operational work.  He has worked with a wide variety of artists and has a strong track record of delivering successful campaigns.

The reset of the A&R team also sees Taylor Nishimura promoted into the new role of Associate Manager, A&R Operations.  She will be reporting to Kalivas in her new role.  

Kristen Burke, President, WM Canada concludes: “I’m delighted that Charlie B and Nick have chosen to join the team – I know they’ll help us become even more culturally relevant and commercially successful.  It’s also fantastic that George and Taylor are stepping up into their new roles. They’ve done an incredible job out of the gate and will be the engine room of the A&R team, driving projects forward.”

Burke joined WM Canada in October 2021 as President and has been transformational with the business. In addition to her reboot of the A&R team, she helped WMG select and land a new Canadian HQ in the heart of downtown Toronto, hired respected executive Andy West as EVP and GM, and last month brought in Julia Hummel, VP of Digital Strategy and Business Development, and Madelaine Napoleone as VP, Marketing.