EMI Appoints New Virgin Records Exec

British music conglomerate EMI Group, home to such acts as Garth Brooks and Nikka Costa, announced the appointment of veteran executive Charlie Dimont as chief operating officer of the Virgin Records America label.

The move follows the ouster last month of EMI’s global music chief, Ken Berry, and his former wife, Nancy Berry, the vice chairwoman of Virgin’s record unit, following a series of profit warnings and financial woes inside EMI, which ranks last in U.S. album sales among the five major record conglomerates.

EMI replaced Ken Berry with former PolyGram chief Alain Levy. EMI said that Dimont would help “manage the operational side” of the label but that Virgin co-presidents Ray Cooper and Ashley Newton would continue reporting directly to Levy.