BMI to Lay Off ‘Just Under 10%’ of Workforce
variety.comJem Aswad Senior Music EditorBMI, one of the two largest performing rights organizations in the United States, announced layoffs of “just under 10%” of its workforce last week, a rep has confirmed to Variety.
The move comes shortly after plans to sell the PRO, which represents some of the world’s biggest artists in the U.S. and pulls in more than $1 billion in revenue annually, were abandoned after the organization did not meet its target price, according to a report in Bloomberg, although the BMI rep said the layoffs were unrelated to the sale cancelation.
News of the layoffs was first reported in Billboard.A source close to the situation tells Variety that the 10% was comprised of a mostly even split between headcount (fewer than 30 people) and then eliminating open positions that were being recruited for.
President and CEO Mike O’Neill announced the cuts in an email obtained by the outlet. “I’m writing to let you know about some difficult actions we took today,” he wrote. “After a careful and comprehensive review process, we are reducing BMI’s total workforce by just under 10% through a combination of headcount reduction and not filling a number of current open positions.
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