Stuart Rubin, Global Marketing Manager

Abstract

This chapter is an interview with Stuart Rubin. At the height of his career, he was Senior VP of Worldwide Marketing for Sony BMG. Stuart’s career in music started in New Zealand in 1976 with PolyGram. He “crossed the ditch” to Australia and held a number of senior marketing roles in PolyGram and BMG before moving to Hong Kong in the 1990s where he became BMG’s VP of International Marketing for the Asia-Pacific region. In 2001 he moved to New York, becoming Senior VP International for BMG. Following the merger with Sony 3 years later, Stuart was made Senior VP International of Commercial Marketing. Stuart’s interview reveals a person fascinated with people, whether they are artists or music lovers. His long experience in selling music to a global market, and as an A&R professional, gives him a unique perspective on the industry. One of Stuart’s unique contributions to this series is his analysis of the “prefab” phenomenon that has been a topic of discussion where the majors are concerned for years.