The HITS Interview: Alejandro Duque

When he joined WMG as president, Warner Music Latin America, in 2021, Alejandro Duque became the youngest exec in the biz to have multinational oversight at a Latin major. Most recently, he was named president of ADA—while retaining his WMG post.

The Colombia-born, Miami-based exec’s dealmaking ability, business acumen and competitiveness have been crucial in bringing Warner Music Latina into the same weight class at its major-label counterparts. Warner’s Latin frontline market share has grown exponentially in the U.S. during his tenure, from 3.1% in 2020 to nearly 12.3 in 2025.

Aggressive A&R has been integral to this growth. The signing blitz that Duque and his team conducted over the last four years shows the label’s commitment to investing in frontline artists and repertoire. Under Duque’s watch, WMG has inked deals with Ovy on the Drums, Maria Becerra, Elena Rose, Myke Towers, Belinda and Tokischa while forging new pacts with indies like JOP’s Street Mob Records.

This year, the label has dominated the top of song charts in Latin America with hits by Ovy on the Drums, Blessd, Danny Ocean and Myke Towers, as well as huge streams in the U.S. and Mexico by Junior H and Natanael Cano. W Sound and Ovy on the Drums’ “La Plena” remains the biggest worldwide Latin song of 2025 that isn’t by Bad Bunny.

Duque has also overseen multiple strategic restructurings, including the launch of WMG’s Música Mexicana division—a West Coast operation that works directly with Warner Mexico; the creation of Touring the World, the label’s global booking arm (in partnership with OCESA Seitrack and Checho Rodriguez); and the addition of Brazilian distribution behemoth Sua Música. He has also figured prominently in another recent reorganization: assuming oversight of WMG’s distribution arm, ADA.

Unfortunately for the frequent flier, after traveling from Bogotá to Miami to New York to Los Angeles and back to Miami within five days, his next destination was an hourlong Zoom with us.

Tell us a bit about your background. How did you get into music?

I was born and raised in Colombia. I moved to Miami in high school, and then to Boston to attend Berklee College of Music. I was a music business student, obviously.

I’ve been in music my entire life. My father headed the biggest independent label in Colombia and founded another music company he ended up selling. But throughout my childhood, I would go to his office after school and annoy people in the studio.

I’ve played guitar my entire life. That was what I was originally pursuing, studying engineering and production [to make music]. Then, one summer, I got an internship at a recording studio; I did not enjoy it. I thought, “Shit, what do I do?” And then the business path was there, and I fell in love with it.

What was your first real gig?

I did some independent things, worked in concert promotion for a bit. But Universal was my first proper job. I think the title was manager of new media back then, which was essentially ringtone licensing and that kind of stuff.

Of course. Ringtones and iTunes.

The good ol’ days. I was very skeptical. I kind of wanted to do my own thing. And my dad told me, “Try it out for a year, see how you feel. It could be interesting.” I was there for 16 years.

Warner was excited about going aggressively into the Latin business, and they were going to give me a lot of flexibility and leeway to execute on different ideas and to refresh the roster, bring in new artists, bring in new faces, and that’s how it’s gone. And I’ve loved it.

What did you end up learning and working on while you were there?

I was very lucky to be in the middle of a couple of big booms when I was at Universal. The digital business or ringtone business was just starting to grow. When I got there, they had been trying to secure a licensing deal with the biggest telco operator in the Colombia region. There was endless back-and-forth, and I realized that I happened to know their general counsel. I called her and set up a meeting, and we finalized a deal within a week. It was quite large, and revenue started rolling in immediately. It was a great moment.

From there, I moved to Argentina to head up the commercial team for the Southern Cone. Argentina was very much still dominated by physical product at that time, so I was able to learn the physical business at the end of it, right before digital took over.

Then I went to Miami, where I was basically head of digital and business development for Latin America. That was 2012; Spotify had arrived and started doing bundles with all the telco carriers. So my connections started to intersect with the DSPs. At that time, there weren’t many people who got all the pieces of the puzzle.

In 2015, I moved over to the label [as head of Universal Latino]—kind of my return to creative. It was rough my first year, because we were rebuilding, but then “Despacito” came out and changed everything. It gave us oxygen. Then we reshaped our roster and signed KAROL G, Feid and J Balvin exploded.

Let’s talk about making the jump to WMG. Was that something you always envisioned?

Yes, I was overseeing U.S. Latin at Universal, which was the biggest Latin label at the time. And I always wanted to grow and have a little bit more say and be able to bring in my own strategy.

So when the opportunity came, I didn’t think twice about it. Warner was excited about going aggressively into the Latin business, and they were going to give me a lot of flexibility and leeway to execute on different ideas and to refresh the roster, bring in new artists, bring in new faces, and that’s how it’s gone. And I’ve loved it.

Are you a competitive person?

Yes, very. You must be in this business. I think developing artists and having hits is what drives us in the end. And to develop an artist, you’re competing against many other developing artists and competing against getting that one spot in a playlist or getting that one spot in a show or getting that one award or getting that #1 on the charts. I open my computer every Monday, look at the charts, go into market share, see what’s happening. I check where my priorities should be.

What’s a normal week like for you?

I’m still trying to figure that out. That’s the fun part of the job. Here’s an example. I was in Bogotá Sunday night to see Green Day. I actually took my [10-year-old] son; he’s a huge fan. And then on Monday night, I flew to Miami. Tuesday morning, I went to New York for lunch with an important partner at ADA. And then that same Tuesday I got on a plane to L.A. for some internal meetings and had a couple of meetings with our West Coast regional Mexican team. We advanced a signing that I’m very excited about and hoping it closes today. And then back to Miami.

Clockwise from top: from left in foreground, Warner Chappell Music's Gustavo Menéndez, Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl, Duque and Warner Music Latin's Francisco Granados; golden hour with Andrade, Yami Safdie managers Armando Lozano and Ornella De Virgilio, Safdie and Duque; Duque with Warner Mexico President Tomas Rodriguez and Mexican star Belinda

Which artist breakouts stand out since you’ve been at WMG?

Blessd is definitely a big success for us. We got him early. I mean, he was already moving, but now, a few years later, he’s selling tickets everywhere. He did a global tour with Ryan Castro last year.

Yes, I’ve noticed looking at Colombia’s charts—it’s all songs from Blessd or Ovy on the Drums in the Top 20 right now.

More or less, yeah. And Ovy is another great story. When we met, he was KAROL G’s main producer. After we signed him, he started putting out music on his own. We’re obviously very close with Ovy, but also with Kristoman, who manages him. And as we speak, “La Plena” has been the song of the summer in Italy and all Latin America. It’s a great record. Right now, everything Ovy touches turns to gold.

Elena Rose is another artist we’ve been working for some time. She’s one of the biggest songwriters in Latin. Right now, “Cosita Linda” is growing quickly, gaining virality. Her debut album is ready. It’s amazing.

And there’s Yami Safdie, who’s had a great run and is working on her debut album with us. And Danny Ocean is a great one—he’s had some massive hits, and his new album is doing very well in many different countries. We’re excited about his growth; he’s been with Warner since before I was there.

Out of Puerto Rico, of course, there’s Myke Towers—every year he has a couple of global Top 50 hits. Clarent and De La Rose are very hot and growing quickly.

In Colombia, along with Blessd, we just signed Kris R, who’s the hottest new act in the country. And in Argentina there’s Maria Becerra and Tiago PZK.

We’ve gone into every market, into the cultural tissue, and we’ve made sure that our team and our A&Rs really understand it. We’ve been selective in who we sign and develop. Several of these artists have become regional acts, and we’re hoping that a lot of them are going to become global artists. I think we have proof of concept of that strategy.

We’ve built a world-class team. They’re very aggressive and aligned with our strategy and vision. They collaborate on everything, and that makes a difference.

Obviously, the mission was to be aggressive and go sign more acts. How do you think you’ve done so far?

That’s a good one. I hate it when I ask my team, “How’s the song doing?” And they say, “Oh, it’s doing really good.” I hate it. You need to give me facts. What is “good?” So to answer your question, as a Latin company, our frontline market share—when I joined—was, like, 3.5%. Today it’s around 12%.

What can you tell us about the team you’ve built?

We’ve built a world-class team. They’re very aggressive and aligned with our strategy and vision. They collaborate on everything, and that makes a difference.

Bringing in [Warner Music Latina U.S. Managing Director] Roberto Andrade, that was a gamble that paid off. He comes from the management world and had never run a label before. But I knew he could do it and he’s delivered.

In Argentina, earlier this year we appointed Tomás Talarico to lead the Southern Cone. He comes from the independent world as well, and built MOJO, which was very grassroots and ingrained in the culture.

In Colombia we have Dani [MD of Warner Music Andes Daniel Mora]. He comes from Warner Chappell, but the interesting thing about him is that he’s actually in a very well-known band, Bonka. They have a sold-out date in December at Movistar Arena.

Then in Brazil, there’s Leila [Oliveira]. She’s the first female president of a major label in Brazil. She’s brought great artists to the table and accelerated the company.

And in Mexico, we have Tomás [Rodríguez], who has been the head of the label since before I joined. He’s fantastic. I’ve given him a bigger role; he oversees Mexico and Música Mexicana. He works closely with Rubén [Abraham], who heads up Mexican-music strategy in the West Coast.

You guys were early with investing in the West Coast-Mexico strategy.

That was one of the big things that I had in mind when I arrived, and it paid off.

Now you have a lot more on your plate with the oversight of ADA. It’s a huge undertaking.

It was a very cool opportunity. It’s a no-brainer for me personally to get more involved in the U.S. market and to also bring the ecosystem even closer, sort of how we’ve done in Latin America where we have a very integrated ecosystem between our distribution business, our frontline business acquisitions, everything. It is one single unit in each region, and that’s what’s really allowed us to grow really fast.

What will ADA provide for partners?

While other companies may have two competing avenues, we have stacked ones. We built an ecosystem where different projects can go up the pyramid as they need more services and investment or more expertise for tapping into new resources. The goal is to give them options and serve them as best as we can in whatever place in the ecosystem they feel they need to be.

Outside of music, what do you enjoy doing?

I love riding my Harley. Doing bike trips is one of the few ways I can disconnect from everything and not be staring at my phone nonstop.