MUMBAI: Universal Music Group’s sales, marketing and distribution arm Universal Music Group Distribution (UMGD) has expanded its executive team with the promotions of Amanda Marks to executive vice president & general manager of Universal Music Distribution (UMD) and Laura Saez to senior vice president of sales, UMD, as well as with the appointment of Mitch Rotter to vice president of marketing, UMD.

Following these appointments, UMGD becomes the first music distribution company to formally do away with any division between physical and digital services. Instead, the company will continue to offer an array of personalized marketing and sales services in the industry, allowing artists and partner labels to move more seamlessly between digital and physical retail opportunities.

Universal Music Group Distribution president and CEO Jim Urie said, "With the appointments of Amanda, Laura and Mitch, along with the continued efforts of Gabriel Levy (VP, Product Development), UMGD will be even better positioned to maximize all of the opportunities from the many new revenue streams generated by our artists, while being even more innovative and aggressive on behalf of our physical and digital partners. Our partners want a frictionless environment where they can move easily between physical and digital offerings. So the demand for our market-leading full suite of services is at an all time high. This new approach will capitalize on that demand by providing our partners with a competitive edge in the market."

With this promotion, Marks will now oversee activities for UMD, the division of UMGD responsible for the distribution, both physical and digital, of UMG’s recording labels.

Saez will head the account management and sales teams, reporting to Marks. Formerly, Saez served as vice president of digital strategy and sales for Rhino Entertainment.

Rotter joins the company from Thumbplay, and will oversee label marketing and consumer marketing for UMD. He will report to Marks.