Interscope Geffen A&M Promotes Michelle An, Laura Carter, and Ramon Alvarez-Smikle in Executive Overhaul

Interscope Geffen A&M has officially reorganized its executive leadership tier, announcing significant promotions across its creative and urban music divisions amid an ongoing company-wide restructuring at parent company Universal Music Group. According to reporting by Billboard, the record label group has elevated Michelle An to the position of president and chief creative officer, while simultaneously naming Laura Carter and Ramon Alvarez-Smikle as co-presidents of urban.

Under the new executive framework, Michelle An will report directly to Interscope Capitol chairman and chief executive officer John Janick. An is slated to maintain her ongoing leadership over the pop and rock divisions while expanding her organizational mandate to guide visual identity, creative storytelling, branding, and long-term career planning for artists across the label roster. Janick praised An's instincts, stating that she possesses one of the clearest creative perspectives in the music business and assists talent in ensuring the artistic environment around their sound feels distinct and fully realized.

Concurrently, Laura Carter and Ramon Alvarez-Smikle will step into their joint roles as co-presidents of urban at Interscope Geffen A&M, also reporting to Janick while collaborating closely with An. According to a company announcement cited by Billboard, the co-presidents will work to unify artist and repertoire (A&R) development, marketing innovation, digital strategy, and audience growth for the label's urban music roster. In addition to these joint responsibilities, Alvarez-Smikle is tasked with creating and scaling digital infrastructure and systems designed to benefit artists across both the urban and pop/rock departments.

Janick expressed strong confidence in the complementary leadership capabilities of Carter and Alvarez-Smikle. In an official statement, the chairman noted that Carter has cultivated deep relationships and trust across the creative community through sharp artistic judgment and talent development. Janick added that Alvarez-Smikle provides cultural instinct, technical digital expertise, and an understanding of how musicians foster active communities, noting that their combined leadership will help urban artists navigate their careers with clearer momentum, strategic alignment, and greater creative impact.

These promotions arrive as Universal Music Group executes the third and final phase of an extensive corporate restructuring and cost-cutting initiative initially announced in 2024, Billboard reported. The structural overhaul has prompted widespread changes across the music conglomerate, including recent high-profile exits such as former Def Jam Recordings chairman and CEO Tunji Balogun, former Polydor Records president Ben Mortimer, former Interscope Geffen A&M president and head of urban A&R Nicole Wyskoarko, and former co-president of pop/rock A&R Sam Riback.

Concurrently, other executive adjustments across the parent company have included expanded leadership roles for Tyler Arnold and Jeffrey Remedios at Republic Records, alongside broadened regional oversight for Island Records co-CEOs Imran Majid and Justin Eshak.