LONDON, U.K. — Merlin’s board for 2026-27 features some fresh faces, and a return of the executive who established the organization.
The independents’ digital rights agency this week announced five new members to its board, the first formed since the appointment of Charlie Lexton as chief executive officer, succeeding Jeremy Sirota.
Newly elected to the board are Bugwu Aneto-Okeke, Measurable Accurate Digital Solutions (Nigeria); Charles Caldas, Exceleration (Portugal); Manami Ogawa, STARBASE (Japan); Rachel Buswell, Domino (U.K.); and Sascha Lazimbat, Zebralution (Germany).
It’s a welcome return to the Merlin fold for Caldas, the Australian-born and raised executive who served as founding CEO of the association from 2007, until he stepped down from the role in December 2019.
In addition to the elected members, Merlin appoints Dan Waite, Better Noise (U.K.) and Verónica Rojas, Casete (Mexico) as board observers.
Re-elected to the Merlin board and continuing their service are Carlos Mills, Mills Records (Brazil); Chris Maund, Mushroom (Australia); Darius Van Arman, Secretly Group (U.S.); Golda Bitterli, Revelator (Israel); Justin West, Secret City Records (Canada); Louis Posen, Hopeless Records (U.S.); Marie Clausen, Ninja Tune (U.S.); Megan Jasper, Sub Pop (U.S.); Pascal Bittard, IDOL (France); and Tom Deakin, AudioSalad (U.K.).
Beggars Group and Merlin co-founder Martin Mills will continue to serve as a director of Merlin Network, the organization’s parent entity, alongside Darius Van Arman, who continues as Merlin chairperson, and Lexton, who was promoted to CEO with effect from Jan. 1.
The Merlin board is elected from and by its membership, which represents tens of thousands of independent record labels, distributors, and rightsholders from around the world, and brings together leaders from 12 different countries across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania.
Merlin claims its membership represents 15% of the global recorded music market, and has negotiated premium deals with Apple, Canva, ElevenLabs, Meta, Spotify, YouTube, and 40 other innovative platforms, on behalf of its members.
For more visit merlinnetwork.org.