Sony Music Entertainment, the world's second-largest record company, is getting a new boss in six months, the company said Tuesday.

Rob Stringer, 54 years old, is a veteran Sony Music executive and will become chief executive in April. He is the younger brother of Sony Corp.'s former chairman and CEO, Sir Howard Stringer.

Mr. Stringer currently heads Sony's Columbia Records label, home to stars including Beyoncé , Bob Dylan and Daft Punk. He is to replace 77-year-old Doug Morris, who will stay on as Sony Music's chairman, and will report to Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton.

The changing of the guard had been planned for some time due primarily to Mr. Morris's age, people familiar with the matter said.

Leading Sony Music at the corporate level represents a big shift for Mr. Stringer, who is beloved by many artists and known for his intuitive decision-making style, industry executives said. He is taking the reins as the music industry shows its first signs of significant growth in 17 years, as revenue from fast-expanding streaming services such as Spotify AB and Apple Inc.'s Apple Music more than offsets declining sales of CDs and downloads. Revenue from recorded music in the U.S. grew more than 8% in the first half of this year over the prior-year period, according to the Recording Industry Association of America. But there is still uncertainty about how many subscribers streaming services charging $10 a month can ultimately amass, especially given mounting competition from free music sources such as Alphabet Inc.'s YouTube, which pay record companies far less per user.

Mr. Stringer cut his teeth as a marketing intern at CBS Records—now part of Sony—in 1985, and rose through the ranks to take leadership positions at Epic Records and Sony Music's U.K. division. He was named chairman of Sony's U.S. label group in 2006 and appointed chairman of Columbia Records in 2008. Mr. Stringer helped Columbia become one of the industry's most successful record labels, overseeing the U.S. launch of Adele's 2015 album "25," which has sold more than 9 million copies domestically, according to Nielsen Music He also oversaw the release of Beyonce's visual album "Lemonade," David Bowie's final studio album, "Blackstar," and Daft Punk's "Random Access Memories," which racked up five Grammy awards in 2014.

His brother, Howard Stringer, served as Sony's CEO from 2005 until 2012, when he was replaced by current leader Kazuo Hirai.

Write to Hannah Karp at hannah.karp@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 18, 2016 16:45 ET (20:45 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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