Warner Records Cuts a Dozen Staff, Including Three Senior Executives

Warner Records laid off roughly a dozen employees this week, sources confirm to Variety, among them executive marketing VPs Victoria "Torie" Mason and Dalia Ganz and senior VP of publicity Fount Lynch.

Ganz had joined the company in 2022 and was promoted to EVP just 15 months ago. That is a short run at the top, even by label-restructuring arithmetic.

Country Aircheck first reported the news. Representatives for Warner Records declined to comment.

Where did the cuts land?

At least five of the layoffs hit the company's Nashville office, where Mason and Lynch are based. The Nashville casualties also include:

• Anna Cage, VP of radio promotion
• Jenna Johnson, West Coast manager of artist relations
• Kayla Burnett, regional manager of radio

The concentration in Nashville suggests the cuts weren't evenly spread across the roster but targeted one hub — and the city's promotion and publicity ranks in particular.

Is this part of the $170 million plan?

Most likely, yes. CEO Robert Kyncl, who took the helm in January 2023, announced $170 million in staff cuts in July 2025 and called it the final stage of the restructuring. This week's round appears to be a latter portion of that program.

There is a second possible thread. Longtime co-chair and COO Tom Corson departed the label earlier this year, elevated to COO of the parent company, Warner Music Group. Succession reshuffles rarely leave every deputy in place, and the timing invites speculation the two are connected. Warner Records has offered no comment either way.

What did Kyncl tell staff?

In a July 2025 memo laying out company priorities, Kyncl wrote: "Many changes will be implemented in the next three months, with the remainder in fiscal 2026."

He continued: "In an ever-changing industry, we must continue to supercharge our capabilities in long-term artist, songwriter, and catalog development. That's why this company was created in the first place, it's what we've always been best at, and it's how we'll differentiate ourselves in the future."

The memo frames the layoffs as capability-building — supercharging, in the chief executive's verb of choice. The executives losing their titles this week may read the phrasing differently.

What comes next?

Kyncl's memo promised the remainder of the changes by the end of fiscal 2026, meaning the label's staff can expect further restructuring rather than a quick settling of accounts. Since Kyncl's arrival in January 2023, the cuts have been, in Variety's words, long and far-reaching — and this week showed the program still has legs.