Columbia Records Names Peter Gray Executive VP/ Head of Promotion

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – Peter Gray, who stepped down as Warner Bros. Records’ executive VP/GM and head of radio promotion last year, is joining Columbia Records as the label’s EVP and head of promotion, sources tell Variety. He fills the role vacated by Lee Leipsner , who left the company in March.

Gray’s appointment is the latest in a series of hires at the label by chairman/CEO Ron Perry, who took the helm in January of last year. Other prominent hires include EVP/GM Jennifer Mallory and Shawn Holiday and Phylicia Fant as co-heads of the company’s urban department, along with several other internal promotions.

The label has also made a series of high-profile signings including Lil Nas X — who has the uncontested top song of the year with “Old Town Road” — rapper Tyga, dance-music stalwarts Swedish House Mafia and just last week, highly touted singer-songwriter Arizona Zervas.

Gray had been with Warner for seven years, joining the company in 2011 after a nine-year stint at RCA Records, where he rose to senior VP of promotion. Prior to RCA, he began his professional career at Tristate Promotion in Cincinnati, where he worked on releases by Nelly Furtado and Jimmy Eat World.