Music data and lyrics platform Musixmatch has appointed Rio Caraeff and Marco Paglia to the roles of Co-Presidents.
Under this new leadership structure, Paglia and Caraeff will report to Max Ciociola, Musixmatch Founder and CEO.
Musixmatch claims to be the world’s largest lyrics and music data platform, with more than 80 million users and 1.2 million artists.
The company says it has experienced “significant growth and momentum” in recent years. The company secured strategic investment from TPG Growth in 2022 and has expanded geographically. It also launched Musixmatch Pro, a direct-to-artist SaaS business.
Rio Caraeff is an award-winning executive with 30 years of leadership experience in music, media and technology.
He became Chief Business Officer at Musixmatch in 2023. In his expanded role, Caraeff will continue to oversee business and commercial functions in addition to the legal and licensing teams.
Previously, Caraeff was Chief Operating and Commercial Officer for spatial audio start-up Syng, Inc.
Caraeff was also the Founder, President, and CEO of music video and entertainment platform Vevo, which he formed in 2010 as a global partnership between Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and YouTube.
Before this, Caraeff served as Executive Vice President at Universal Music Group, overseeing strategy, licensing and new business development.
Since joining Musixmatch as Chief Product Officer in 2019, Marco Paglia has spent the last five years leading product, design, content, AI and front-end development.
He’s been a key player in making Musixmatch the global service that powers lyrics for music services like Spotify, Apple Music, Instagram and spearheaded the development of Musixmatch Pro.
In his new role as Co-President, Paglia will now lead the entire engineering team in addition to his oversight of product management and design.
Prior to his work at Musixmatch, Paglia spent a number of years in Silicon Valley where he was the Product Design Director at Uber, after spending several years at Google, where he founded and headed the Google Play design team and led several innovation projects at YouTube and Area 120, its internal startup incubator.
Before moving to the United States, he worked as a UI designer at Nokia in London, Siemens VDO in Paris, Frog Design and LG Electronics in Milan. Paglia has more than 20 patents filed in his name.
“This new structure is a testament to the evolution and growth of the business on a global scale.”
Max Ciociola, Musixmatch
“I am pleased to announce that Marco and Rio will step into these roles as Co-Presidents of Musixmatch, as each brings a wealth of experience and a deep commitment to driving our mission forward,” said Max Ciociola, Musixmatch Founder and CEO.
“Both demonstrate exceptional leadership and are instrumental in the company’s success. Together, they will work closely to oversee day-to-day operations and drive key initiatives.”
He added: “This new structure is a testament to the evolution and growth of the business on a global scale. Under my continued leadership, it will allow us to leverage the unique strengths of our team, ensuring greater focus, agility and collaboration.”
“As we continue to deepen our relationships with music industry leaders, our ideas will only become more sharp, and our products, more refined.”
Marco Paglia, Musixmatch
Marco Paglia, Co-President at Musixmatch, said: “At Musixmatch, our culture is founded on curiosity, passion and innovation.
“Since joining, we’ve seen significant growth. As we continue to deepen our relationships with music industry leaders, our ideas will only become more sharp, and our products, more refined.”
“It is truly an honor to build each day alongside Max, Marco, and the entire Musixmatch team.”
Rio Caraeff, Musixmatch
Rio Caraeff, Co-President at Musixmatch, added: “It is truly an honor to build each day alongside Max, Marco, and the entire Musixmatch team.
“I believe that it is a privilege to serve our customers, and I am excited to do it with the support of such an incredible company.”Music Business Worldwide
