Roadrunner’s Chris Brown Among Layoffs
Chris Brown was among the massive layoffs at Atlantic Music Group, owned by Warner Music Group. Brown served as executive vice president at Elektra Entertainment and co-head of Roadrunner Records.
Cees Wessels formed Roadrunner in The Netherlands in 1980.
The label grew to international prominence (with offices in New York, among other cities) in the hard rock and metal underground with seminal releases from King Diamond, Obituary, Sepultura, and Machine Head.
Type O Negative gave the label its first gold album; Slipknot was the first to go platinum. The label was also the longtime home to Nickelback (except in Canada).
In 2007, Wessels sold 73.5% of Roadrunner Records to Warner Music Group, which acquired the remaining stock in 2010. In 2012, WMG closed Roadrunner’s offices in the UK, Canada, and Denmark, with Wessels stepping down as CEO. Roadrunner fell under Elektra in 2018 and then 300 Elektra Entertainment in 2022.
