Warner Music Hires Exec Involved In Breaking Måneskin To Helm Italian Label

MILAN — Warner Music Group has hired Pico Cibelli, a Sony Music Italy executive involved in the global breakthrough of rock band Måneskin, to helm its Italian label.

Cibelli, who will be based in Milan, will take over as president of Warner Music Italy, which Marco Alboni led for nine years. Cibelli will start in the role “in the near future” and report to Simon Robson, president of international, recorded music for Warner Music Group, the label said in a press release.

Cibelli spent more than a decade at Sony Music Italy, where he worked in A&R and helped develop the company’s frontline domestic artists. According to Italian media reports, Cibelli’s early involvement with breaking Måneskin could have played a major role in Warner’s decision. While at Sony, he was instrumental in hiring A&R Fabrizio Ferraguzzo, who has acted as Måneskin’s manager since June 2021. 

Before joining Sony in 2011, Cibelli spent 10 years at Universal Music Group, first as television marketing manager and dance music A&R, then as A&R manager. Cibelli previously worked in an independent, family-run record store; as a DJ/producer; and later as an executive at local independent distributors Dig It International and Self Distribuzione.

The announcement of Cibelli’s appointment comes in a week when Warner artists hold two spots on Italy’s Top 10 album charts: Trenches Baby by Milan-based trapper Rondodasosa, whom Alboni signed, and The Beatles Songbook from veteran singer Mina. 

“The success of artists such as Måneskin,” Cibelli said in a Warner Music press release, “has shown that Italian artists can take the world by storm, something we’ll see more of in the years ahead.”

Robson, in a statement, said that Cibelli “has a proven track record of developing artists and maximizing their potential.”  

As a source of domestic talent, Italy is one of the strongest markets in the world. In 2021, Italian acts accounted for 76 % of the annual Album Top 100 compiled by FIMI, the local federation for the recorded music industry with which major companies and some local independent labels are affiliated. The Italian music market regained the No. 10 spot in the world in 2021, according to FIMI, showing an 18.33% increase from 2020 and a turnover of 153 million euros ($170.8 million) in the first half of 2022, with digital sales accounting for 83% (revenues from subscription streaming rose by 13.7%). 

Alboni has not indicated where he is heading next, saying only on his LinkedIn page that he will soon start a new job as a music industry executive. He has worked as an artist manager and had prior stints with EMI Music Italy, PolyGram and Virgin Music Italy before being appointed Warner Italy’s chairman and CEO in 2013 when WMG acquired EMI Music Italy.