BMG has officially opened its brand-new, state-of-the-art creative complex to its artists, songwriters, and the music industry. Built and relocated entirely during the COVID-19 pandemic the move brings together BMG’s Los Angeles-based recordings and publishing, as well as its film, books, production music, merchandising operations, and more, all under one roof, operating off the same platform, in the heart of Hollywood’s Mid-Wilshire district, at 5670 Wilshire Boulevard.
In November 2019, BMG announced the deal to relocate its office to a brand-new space, however, by March 2020, all BMG employees worldwide had switched to remote working. What began as a possible three-week stretch of ‘working from home’ ultimately turned into a two-year-long pandemic, with the team in Los Angeles never to return to its previous location. During that time BMG not only renovated and relocated its new offices,
but officially returned to in-person office working in Los Angeles on Monday, May 2, opening a new chapter at BMG.
The move to a new Los Angeles location follows the opening of BMG’s new offices in New York at One Park Avenue in 2018, followed by Nashville at 1 Music Circle South in 2019.
Thomas Scherer, BMG’s President, Repertoire & Marketing, Los Angeles and New York, said, “BMG is home to many of the world’s greatest artists and songwriters. This new location reflects our scale and presence in the heart of Los Angeles, and will further aid our mission to be the most reliable and efficient partner for artists and songwriters around the world.”
The Los Angeles move comes 10 years after BMG first established a base in LA with the acquisition of Bug Music. In the following decade, BMG’s Los Angeles base has grown into the largest BMG operation worldwide providing the artist and songwriter community a full range of creative services including recordings, publishing, film, television, books, neighboring rights, management, production music, merchandise, and live events all operating under one roof, off the same platform. BMG’s Los Angeles office opening now also brings acclaimed rock label Rise Records and indie hip-hop label RBC Records together in-house for the first time.
The newly developed flagship 30,000 square foot, two-floor, full-service music facility is conveniently located in the Mid-Wilshire district.
Designed to provide BMG’s employees, artists, and songwriters with a more efficient, modern, comfortable, and collaborative environment, the facility features sophisticated interior design elements with significant nods to industrial architectural style. Key design components of the connective floor plan include a fully equipped/top-of-the-line songwriter/recording room, a live performance space, state-of-the-art A/V meeting spaces and conference rooms, optimized individual listening rooms, and private breakout rooms with full A/V capability.
Since launching its successful Los Angeles-based operation in 2011, BMG has developed a diverse roster of acclaimed recording artists including 5 Seconds of Summer, Maxwell, Lil Dicky, Slash, Run The Jewels, Jason Mraz, and hit songwriters including Diane Warren, D’Mile, Bruno Mars, DJ Khaled, Bebe Rexha, and Lewis Capaldi, among many other luminaries.
BMG’s recorded catalog boasts such icons as Mötley Crüe, The Kinks, Iron Maiden, Dio, and Motorhead, among others, as well as the publishing catalogs of George Harrison, David Bowie, Juice WRLD, Kurt Cobain, John Legend, Mick Jagger/Keith Richards, Johnny Cash, and many more.
BMG CEO Hartwig Masuch said, “Los Angeles is a powerhouse location for BMG. The music of the artists and songwriters we work with here resonates around the world. I am delighted to be in LA for the official opening of this impressive new space.”
BMG’s Los Angeles operation has grown from a small group of staffers dedicated to music publishing to more than 130 in-house employees evenly split across publishing, recordings, synch & licensing, and operations in all areas of BMG’s business including film and TV, books, production music, merchandising, and artist management.
The development and relocation were overseen by Ulrike Gaskins, BMG’s VP, Operations in the US, who said, “We are incredibly proud of our newest complex in Los Angeles. Given the obstacles during what was a very unprecedented time, all the hard work and attention to detail that went into developing the space is directly tied into BMG’s approach.”
The design was led by Tim Gajewski of NXT Design Studio.
