Former Roadrunner President Jonas Nachsin Appointed General Manager of Spinefarm Records

This past November, after twelve years as President of Roadrunner Records and twenty years with the company, Jonas Nachsin resigned from the label, following RR founder Cees Wessels and a hefty round of layoffs earlier in the year. Now Nachsin has resurfaced: he’s been named the new GM of Spinefarm Records, which is currently home to such bands as Killing Joke, Chthonic, Swallow the Sun, Ensiferum, and Kalmah.

Says Nachsin:

“I am thrilled to have the opportunity to build Spinefarm Records into a world class destination for rock and metal artists. There is an energetic and dedicated group of people at the label already, and we’ll be expanding our staff  as we reach out to the artist community to begin new partnerships, as well as working hard on the roster we now have.   I’m looking forward to working with Andrew Kronfeld, an executive whom I greatly admire, and the new Caroline set-up to drive this company forward.”

Adds Andrew Kronfeld, president of Universal Music’s global marketing (a.k.a. “Nachsin’s new boss”):

“Hard rock and metal is such a dynamic area of music, with so many passionate bands and even more passionate fans, and we have very ambitious plans for Spinefarm Records. Nobody knows this part of the business as well as Jonas and so we are delighted that he has joined our team so we can grow Spinefarm and make it the most vibrant and trusted label in heavy rock music.”

I don’t pay close enough attention to record sales to know this on my own, but according to the very business savvy Metal Insider, “the addition of Nachsin could prove to be a major benefit for the label” because “though Spinefarm has done well overseas, they haven’t had the best of luck tapping into the U.S. market.” Honestly, I hope that’s true! I’d love to live in a world where groups like Swallow the Sun and Kalmah are even bigger.