New strategic leadership appointments to help accelerate domestic artist development and label growth

Hermond Cheng appointed Head of A&R and marketing, Ivan Koh appointed Head of commercial and Patrina Wong appointed Finance and Operations director

Kim Lim

Petaling Jaya, April 29, 2021 –Universal Music Malaysia (UMM), a division of Universal Music Group (UMG), the world leader in music-based entertainment, announced today that Kim Lim has been promoted to the position of Managing Director, Universal Music Malaysia, effective immediately. The appointment comes as part of a series of strategic hires to further expand and bolster the senior management team as part of the company’s effort to accelerate domestic artist development and label growth within the region.

As a core member of UMG’s regional executive team, Lim will oversee UMG’s operations throughout Malaysia. Based at UMM’s headquarters in Petaling Jaya, Selangor, she will report to Calvin Wong, Chief Executive Officer, Universal Music Southeast Asia & Senior Vice President, Asia. Having joined UMM in 2014 from Malaysian advertising agency RedRedRed, Lim has held a variety of senior roles within the company, most recently serving as Senior Director of new business and artist management & Head of marketing and sales for Malaysia.

In this role, Lim led UMM across partnerships, talent management, live events and other innovative new business initiatives that have established UMM as Malaysia’s leading domestic music entertainment company. In recent years UMM has led award-winning brand campaign activations in the region between its artists and major companies (both domestic and global), including: ‘The Singing Pizza’ campaign with Pizza Hut; Hyundai; Tune Talk; Petron; and Samsung.

In 2019, she spearheaded the launch of Celebrity 360, an industry-leading full-service management company which manages the careers of some of Malaysia’s most popular and influential talents from the worlds of music, film/TV, entertainment and lifestyle including: Anis Nabilah, Alvin Chong, Fattah Amin, Fazura, Diana Danielle, Syazuwan and Jaja Iliyes amongst others. Celebrity 360 is the first agency of its kind in the region and handles all elements for its clients, including brand partnerships, live events and TV & film production. Prior to joining UMG, Ms. Lim previously held positions at Asia-Pacific Videolabs, Warner Music Malaysia and Golden Dynamics Enterprise Ltd.

Strategic Leadership Appointments to Help Accelerate Domestic Artist Development & Label Growth

In addition, Universal Music Malaysia has announced a series of key leadership appointments, effective immediately, including:

– Hermond Cheng appointed as Director of A&R and Marketing and Head of Def Jam Malaysia;

– Ivan Koh is appointed Director of commercial & digital strategy; and

– Patrina Wong appointed as Finance and Operations director.

Respected industry veteran Cheng has previously held senior positions at EMI, Warner Music and joins UMM from Sony Music where he held the position of GM, Sony Music Malaysia.

Koh joins UMM after 14 years at Warner Music Group where he was most recently, Director, digital account & business development.

Wong started her career in auditing and gained significant experience in both regional and in-country business and finance before joining UMG.

In making the announcement, Calvin Wong, Chief Executive Officer, Universal Music Southeast Asia & Senior Vice President, Asia said:

“I am thrilled that Kim’s ability, business innovation and strategic leadership have enabled her to rise from within UMM to the top job in Malaysia. Having been a passionate and successful marketing executive on the label side, she has achieved amazing results in transforming our non-recorded Income, whilst spearheading the innovative and successful launch of Celebrity 360 in Malaysia. I’m confident that with the team of Kim, Hermond, Ivan and Patrina in place, UMM will continue to expand the opportunities for Malaysian music talent around the world, whilst achieving new levels of success domestically.”

Kim Lim said, “I am excited to lead the amazing team here in Malaysia, joined by these outstanding new senior managers, Hermond, Ivan and Patrina, as we look at new ways to expand the horizons and think expansively about what is possible for a music company to achieve. We will continue to focus on domestic A&R, discovering and developing the best talent our country and region have to offer. Building upon the incredible success of Def Jam Malaysia, Celebrity 360 and our other commercial initiatives, we will innovate and carve new paths to ensure that Malaysia’s vibrant music culture is more accessible to partners, platforms and most importantly music fans throughout the region than ever before.”

In recent years, UMM has achieved domestic success with artists including, DOLLA, Alvin Chong, Asyraf Nasir, Nabila Razali and Shalma Eliana. In 2019, it launched Def Jam Malaysia, which has since signed and released some of Malaysia’s most exciting domestic hip-hop talent including multi-platinum awarded artist Yonnyboii, whose breakthrough track Salahku has already received more than 11 million views on YouTube, with his debut album scheduled for later in 2021. In addition, UMM launched a new label RedRecords in partnership with AirAsia, dedicated to developing and introducing the best in Asian-pop music to audiences around the world.

This year, Universal Music Malaysia will deepen its focus on local talent with the launch of several new labels and initiatives further establishing UMM as the leading label for breaking and developing Malaysian talent and music culture locally, across the Southeast Asia region and globally – both now and into the future.

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