BMG promotes Heath Johns to president, Australia, New Zealand And South-East Asia

21 April 2023 - Press release

BMG Managing Director Australia, Heath Johns, has been promoted to President, Australia, New Zealand and South-east Asia in recognition of his significant contribution to the company. 

Johns was BMG’s first employee in Australia when the company launched in the country in 2016. The company now has a staff of 28 and represents artists and songwriters including Dope Lemon, Peking Duk, Chet Faker, Dune Rats, Tim Minchin, Angus and Julia Stone, Crowded House, JET, Pacific Avenue, KWAME, Cut Copy, CHAII, Ladyhawke, Wolfmother, Winston Surfshirt, Tyron Hapi and Alison Wonderland. 

Under Johns’s leadership BMG was named by the Australian Financial Review in 2021 as one of Australia’s most innovative companies and in 2022 one of Australia’s best places to work. Johns was awarded the Newton-John medal in 2020 by the University of Newcastle for extraordinary services to the Arts and led an Australian-first scholarship program between the UoN and BMG to create meaningful music industry pathways for First Nations students. 

It started 2022 with the world’s #1 most-Shazamed and #1 TikTok song with the 1bn-streaming ‘Astronaut In The Ocean’ by publishing client Tyron Hapi. It ended the year with recordings client Daniel Johns delivering ARIA’s highest-selling Australian Album release of 2022 with FutureNever.  

BMG Chief Content Officer Dominique Casimir said, “Heath Johns personifies so much of what makes BMG great. With his passion and enthusiasm for music he is a force of nature, but he combines commercial drive with an innate understanding of BMG’s value system and ethical stance. The expansion of his responsibilities is a recognition of his talents.”  

Heath Johns said, “I remain grateful for the opportunity to launch the Sydney office of this incredible company back in early 2016. BMG’s globally  renowned service-based approach was the perfect platform to build upon in a region where we’ve consistently executed world-class creative and innovation to take our artists to the world. I’m humbled by this promotion and proud to be part of a very special team of people at BMG in Australia and the world who continue to inspire me.”