MORELLI SEES RED

As predicted last week, Bob Morelli has been named RED’s Executive Vice President and General Manager, effective immediately, it was announced today by Sony BMG Sales Enterprise Co-Presidents Bill Frohlich and Jordan Katz.

In his new role, Morelli will oversee all areas of RED Distribution’s operations, including sales, marketing, new media, field marketing and support services. Reporting to him will be RED’s senior management team that includes SVP Product Development Alan Becker, VP Business & Legal Affairs Tony Timpano, VP Finance & Administration Greg Bell, VP Marketing Laura Marques, VP Field Sales Lou Tatulli and RED Ink SVP/General Manager Howard Gabriel.

Said Frohlich, "Bob is widely respected by the label and retail communities for his expert understanding of the music market, and recognized for his ability to work in true partnership with the labels he distributes. Plus, he knows the best places to get calzone in the city.”

Added Katz, "Bob’s impressive track record in sales and marketing, combined with his entrepreneurial spirit and integrity, make him distinctly qualified to lead RED. I am confident that under his leadership, RED’s unique position as the dominant resource for the independent community will only be strengthened. The fact that he looks fabulous in red doesn’t hurt, either.”

Commented Morelli, "I look forward to working with the talented RED team that, with Ken Antonelli’s leadership, built the company into the preeminent distributor for independent labels. Together we will continue to bring innovation and dedication to RED’s incredible family of labels while enhancing our capabilities in a number of key areas to better serve our labels and their artists. Also, of course, Ken and I will continue to meet for our weekly bocci ball matches.”

Morelli most recently served as Sony BMG MUSIC Sales EVP/GM, overseeing the integration of the former sales operations of BMG Distribution and Sony Music Distribution. Prior to that he was SVP Marketing and Branch Operations for BMG Distribution, where he held a number of positions of increasing responsibility. He joined the company in 1985. During his tenure, Morelli was responsible for overseeing distribution, sales and marketing for a group of third-party labels that included Razor & Tie, V2, Sanctuary, Wind-up, ATO, Time Bomb, Octone and Robbins Entertainment. He was also responsible for restarting indie distribution arm Wasabi, as well as for running BMG’s Independent Distribution Network. He started his career at Polygram as a sales rep.