Cory Sparks Joins Label as VP, Urban Promotion
Warner Records today announced Ron Stewart has been promoted to SVP of Urban Promotion for the label. In his new post, Stewart will expand his current duties to lead promotion strategy and campaigns for all urban artists across the roster. Based in New York, he reports to Mike Chester, EVP of Promotion & Commerce. At the same time, it was announced that Cory Sparks has joined the label as VP of Urban Promotion after over a decade with Epic Records. Sparks will be based in Atlanta, GA., and reports to Stewart.
“Ron is one of the most respected and admired promotion executives in the business and all of our artists benefit from his musical insight and unmatched expertise. And Cory has a proven track record and has been instrumental in breaking some of today’s biggest superstars. I’m looking forward to working with both of them and the overall team in expanding the reach of our multi-faceted Promotion department,” said Chester.
“I’m blessed to be able to work with an amazing team of executives here at Warner Records. I want to thank Mike, Tom (Corson), and Aaron (Bay-Schuck) for trusting me with this opportunity to spearhead our promotional efforts on behalf of our emerging and established urban artists. And I couldn’t be happier to bring Cory Sparks. He’s joining our company with years of experience and a deep knowledge of music, and I know he’ll be a stellar addition to the team,” said Stewart.
“I’m excited to be working with an incredible roster of notable artists and executives here at Warner Records. I look forward to contributing to an already winning team,” added Sparks.
Stewart came to Warner Records in 2019 and has scored chart-topping singles from Saweetie, NLE Choppa, DVSN, Pheelz, Freddie Gibbs, ShaEK, Bandmanrill, 2 Rare, Baby Tate, Laya, Omah Lay, and more. He joined the label from Atlantic Records, where he was the Northeast/Midwest Regional Promotion Manager. At Atlantic, he worked closely with Cardi B, Meek Mill, Wale, Kodak Black, Ty Dolla $ign, Kevin Gates, Wiz Khalifa, and Nipsey Hussle. Stewart began his career in 2003 as an intern, then Promotion assistant at Jive Records, where he helped launch the careers of Ciara, Chris Brown, and T-Pain. Stewart has garnered over 30 #1 singles at Urban radio over his career to date.
Most recently, Sparks was VP of Promotion at Epic Records. During his 10 years at Epic, he worked closely with Future, Travis Scott, DJ Khaled, and Giveon. He began his career at Epic in 2012, first as Midwest/Southeast Regional Promotions Manager, before rising to Sr. National Director and VP of Promotion. He also served stints at Interscope/Geffen Records as well as eOne Music.
