Andreea Gleeson Stepping Down as TuneCore CEO

Andreea Gleeson, CEO of the digital music distributor TuneCore, will be stepping down from her post, she announced Wednesday in an internal memo obtained by Variety. The company’s leadership will be overseen by Romain Vivien, the France-based parent company Believe’s global head of music, with senior executives including chief revenue officer Brian Miller and chief technology and product officer Luxi Huang. A rep for the company tells Variety that Gleeson’s role will not be filled, although she will continue indefinitely as a strategic advisor for Believe. While TuneCore announced last year that independent artists have earned more than $5 billion through the company, in November 2024 it was hit with a $500 million copyright-infringement lawsuit from multiple labels, including Universal Music Group, Concord Music Group and ABKCO Music that claims Believe and TuneCore knowingly distributed infringing copies of sound recordings from artists including Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber, Billie Eilish, Kendrick Lamar and others; the rep had no comment on the status of the lawsuit. Popular on Variety In 2023, TuneCore and Believe united with CD Baby and its parent company Downtown, DistroKid, UnitedMasters, Symphonic, Empire, and Vydia, along with digital service providers Spotify and Amazon Music, to create Music Fights Fraud , which was described as an industry-wide anti-fraud initiative. That same year, the company commissioned a study on gender-based inequalities in music called “ Be the Change. ” Gleeson joined the company as chief marketing officer in 2015 after stints at the retail giants Lord & Taylor and Hudson’s Bay, and was promoted to co-head and chief revenue officer in 2020, rising to CEO the following year. She was among the honorees at Variety‘s 2022 Power of Women: New York celebration. Gleeson’s note, and one from Believe founder-CEO Denis Ladegaillerie, follow in full. As I write this, I’m filled with pride, gratitude, and a deep sense of connection to all of you. After ten years at TuneCore, and with the company well-positioned for continued success, Believe and I have mutually agreed that the time is right for me to transition. Effective immediately, I’ll be moving from my role as CEO of TuneCore into a Strategic Advisor position for Believe. As TuneCore enters this next phase from a position of strength, its mission remains: empower independent artists to succeed on their own terms, moving them from “access to success” through an efficient, automated platform. Moving forward, TuneCore will prioritize harnessing more fully the capabilities of Believe, to help artists grow globally. Believe and I looked at what the future requires and agreed the best path is for me to support Believe’s executive team in an advisory capacity to continue building where I can have the greatest impact. Leading TuneCore has been one of the most meaningful chapters of my career. Together, we’ve transformed this company, expanding our global footprint, strengthening and modernizing the platform, and pivoting from just distribution to artist development by launching programs like TuneCore Accelerator to give artists deeper support, education, and access to real career-building opportunities....

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