Pressplay, the online music subscription service, today announced that Michael Bebel is being promoted to the role of president and chief executive officer.
Bebel has served as chief operating officer of pressplay for more than a year and will succeed Andy Schuon, who is leaving the company to return to the radio industry.
Formed in April 2001, pressplay is a joint venture between Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment. Its service was made available to consumers in the United States in December 2001.
Doug Morris, Chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, and Thomas D. Mottola, Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, both members of the board of pressplay, said jointly: “Mike is an extremely talented executive with exactly the right blend of experience in music, technology and operations to lead pressplay forward and ensure a seamless transition. We are grateful to Andy Schuon for the role he has played in building and launching the company. We understand that he has a tremendous opportunity that will take him back to his professional roots in radio and wish him well in his new endeavor.”
“Pressplay has made tremendous strides as a company and as a service,” said Bebel. “I’m excited to lead the company through its next phase of growth as we break new ground in the world of online music. We have a great team at pressplay and a number of exciting developments coming this year, including a new version of the service that will keep pressplay at the forefront of the online music space. I am indebted to Andy for all he has done to successfully launch pressplay in the marketplace and I wish him well in his new endeavors.”
Prior to joining pressplay, Bebel served as executive vice president of the eLabs division of Universal Music Group (UMG), where he played a leading role in the formation of the pressplay joint venture. Prior to eLabs, Bebel was senior vice president for strategic planning and business development of UMG’s eCAT division, where he helped shape the landscape of various online initiatives and played a lead role in negotiating key joint ventures and strategic alliances including GetMusic. Bebel was brought to Universal from its then-parent company, Seagram, in January 1996 and served in a leadership capacity focused on improving operations across the studio, theme park and music divisions. From 1991 to 1995, he held several financial management and business development positions at the Seagram Beverage Company in New York. Bebel holds an MBA in management and economics from the State University of New York at Binghamton and a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting. He lives in the New York area with his wife and three children.
