Interscope Geffen A&M has a new leadership shape. Michelle An is now the label's President and Chief Creative Officer, and Laura Carter and Ramon Alvarez-Smikle have been promoted to Co-Presidents, Urban, according to the label's announcement, reported on October 21, 2026 by Billboard, Music Business Worldwide and Music Week. All three appointments take effect immediately, MBW reported.
Who does what
An will report to John Janick, Chairman and CEO of Interscope Capitol. She keeps running IGA Pop/Rock while widening her remit across the company, helping artists “shape the worlds around their music, from visual identity and storytelling to brand development and long-term career strategy,” according to the label's statement quoted by Music Week.
Carter and Alvarez-Smikle also report to Janick and will work closely with An. Their brief is to bring A&R, marketing innovation, digital strategy and audience development closer together for IGA Urban's artists. Alvarez-Smikle gets an extra job on top of that: building and scaling “the digital systems and infrastructure that drive artist success” across the whole IGA roster, both Urban and Pop/Rock, MBW reported.
“Michelle has one of the clearest creative instincts in the business. She helps artists make the world around their music feel bold, fully realized and unmistakably their own,” Janick said in the statement. He described Carter as someone who “has earned deep trust through her artist relationships, creative judgment and commitment to developing talent,” and said Alvarez-Smikle “brings cultural instinct, deep digital expertise and a sharp understanding of how artists build audiences and communities.”
Why now
The promotions fill gaps left by two senior exits. MBW had reported a week earlier that Nicole Wyskoarko, who led Urban A&R, and Sam Riback, who led Pop/Rock A&R, were leaving IGA. Billboard said the moves land during the third and final phase of the restructuring and cost-cutting plan that parent company Universal Music Group first announced in 2024, a phase that has also seen exits announced for Def Jam chairman and CEO Tunji Balogun and Polydor president Ben Mortimer. According to MBW, UMG's program targets EUR 250 million in annual savings, with the final EUR 35 million to 45 million due in 2027.
Long-serving insiders
None of the three is new to the building. An joined IGA in 2006 in its brand partnerships department, became head of its visual creative department in 2012 and was named President of Creative Strategy in July 2023, MBW reported. Carter joined Interscope in 2008 and has worked with J. Cole and his Dreamville label, as well as Mustard's 10 Summers label, home to Ella Mai. Alvarez-Smikle arrived in 2016 from Shazam, where he was Music Partnerships Manager, and led digital marketing campaigns for artists including J. Cole, Playboi Carti, 6LACK and Juice WRLD.
For fans, the headline is that the people who shaped how IGA artists look, launch and reach audiences online now lead both of the label's main divisions, Pop/Rock and Urban.