Dan Chalmers

BIOGRAPHY

Dan Chalmers is YouTube’s Head of Music for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). With 20
years+ experience, he has a proven track record in leadership and innovation, and has played a
seminal role in helping artists to succeed creatively on the platform through building audiences,
connecting with fans and earning revenue.

Since joining in 2020, Chalmers has continued to propel EMEA’s creative economies forward,
playing a pivotal role in spearheading the ways artists can monetise their content and build
successful businesses on the platform. Under his tenure, YouTube Music continues to bring a
new wave of artists to light through initiatives such as YouTube’s Artist On The Rise and The
Foundry.

Throughout the pandemic, Chalmers steered YouTube to become the world’s largest virtual
venue. Having quickly recognised the hunger for livestream events from fans and artists alike,
Chalmers helped deliver unforgettable moments such as Andrea Bocelli’s record-breaking
Music For Hope performance (28 million views in just 24 hours), virtual festivals for Download
and Defected, major award ceremonies (Mercury Prize, MOBOs and GRM Daily’s Rated
Awards) plus a range of archive content from iconic artists including The Rolling Stones, Led
Zeppelin and Radiohead.

Prior to YouTube, Chalmers enjoyed a long and fruitful career at Warner Music Group. He
enjoyed the unique distinction of being President at three key WMG divisions, each of which
called for differing skills and approaches. His leadership at Rhino enabled the label to diversify
as the digital era took control, drawing on D2C as a major source of revenue while making huge
strides forwards in the download and streaming markets. It resulted in huge multi-Platinum
success for the likes of Led Zeppelin, Fleetwood Mac, Pink Floyd, Kate Bush and David Bowie.
While Rhino proved Chalmers’ ability with legacy artists, his launch of the label services division
ADA then demonstrated his understanding of the independent artist community. Signing a
partnership with Stormzy for his debut album ‘Gang Signs & Prayers’ led to one of the biggest
and most influential albums of recent years.

The third landmark moment in Chalmers’ WMG career came when he relaunched East West
Records, with a new focus as a crossover label, achieving new success for the likes of Rod
Stewart, Bette Midler, Jools Holland, Robert Plant and Boyzone. The label innovated by making
the Q4 gifting market a priority, delivering huge CD sales at Christmas even when the physical
market was declining.

Chalmers’ career started in 1999 when he joined the International Marketing department at
Polygram Universal, where he helped to progress the careers of Eminem, Enrique Iglesias and
Blink 182. He then moved up the ranks at WMG International, rising from strategic marketing to
product manager and then marketing manager.

Every step has seen Chalmers adapt to new situations in the industry, from the early days of the
declining physical market to the rise of digital and most recently the COVID era. Whether it’s
through partnerships or creative ideas, Chalmers has always identified a method to overcome
and benefit from the issues that he faces. Now standing at the forefront of the streaming and
music industries, Chalmers’ work with YouTube work will continue to shape the future of popular
culture.