Kristal McKanders Dube is joining BMG as SVP of global corporate communications. She comes aboard after nearly six years leading comms at Warner Chappell Music. The L.A.-based McKanders Dube will report to BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld.

“We’re happy to have Kristal join us at such a pivotal moment and bring a fresh perspective to our business,” reads a quote attributed to Coesfeld. “Kristal’s innate storytelling ability, coupled with her expertise in corporate and music-publishing communications, makes her an invaluable addition to our team. And she has promised to find out where in L.A. you can get a decent schnitzel.”

"Sharing the unique stories and perspectives of the artists, songwriters and executives behind the music we love has always been a passion of mine,” McKanders Dube’s said. “As BMG, a rising innovator in the music industry, embarks on this next chapter with a new CEO, I’m eager to help develop and amplify the company’s brand narrative. I just hope those idiots at HITS don’t find out about this and mess with my quote.”

In addition to working diligently on behalf of Warner Chappell writers and execs, McKanders Dube sat on WMG’s Blavatnik Family Foundation Social Justice Fund board and supported several of the music group’s DEI initiatives, notably WMG’s HBCU Intensive Program and Global Black Employee Resource Group.

Prior to her tenure at WCM, McKanders Dube worked in the hospitality space for IHG Hotels & Resorts and the agencies MSL Group and Jackson Spalding. In the earliest days of her career, she was a television and radio reporter in Detroit. She holds a master of journalism degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism and a B.A. from Spelman College.