Warner Music Group CEO Robert Kyncl says that, in all the decades he\u2019s lived in the United States, no one has ever guessed the origin of his surname.<\/p>\n
When pronounced correctly, Kyncl rhymes with \u201ctinsel\u201d, and it\u2019s a diminutive form of an old Germanic word that translates as \u201cbrave counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s altogether fitting for someone who has helped guide several of the world\u2019s most prominent media brands through times of fundamental transformation.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything I had done before was about subscriptions… YouTube was the opposite of that. I figured, I kind of know the other side. This would be an incredible challenge, to be part of the team that figures it out\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
Robert Kyncl<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Kyncl was a key player in transforming Netflix from a mail-order DVD service into the streaming video giant it is today, and in developing the process by which YouTube overcame its problems with copyright-infringing content, helping turn the company from a bastion of IP piracy into a law-abiding and central player in the media and entertainment world.<\/p>\n
Today, Kyncl is once again guiding a major entertainment brand through a tumultuous era \u2013 this time Warner Music Group, at a time when the globalization of musical talent is changing the face of the industry, and generative AI is shaking the industry to its core \u2013 and presenting plenty of opportunity for leaders like Kyncl to offer brave counsel.<\/p>\n
\nRobert Kyncl: From Czechoslovakia to America<\/h6>\n
Born in 1970 in what was at the time communist Czechoslovakia, Kyncl grew up under an oppressive regime where information was strictly controlled \u2013 a reality that he says has shaped his view of the media environment, and given him a passion for openness.<\/p>\n
As the \u201cblack sheep\u201d of his family, he eschewed the family business \u2013 medicine \u2013 and shortly after communism fell in Eastern Europe, he migrated to the US, where he studied at the State University of New York and Pepperdine University, graduating with an MBA in 1997.<\/p>\n
He began his career in the mailroom of talent agency J. Michael Bloom, before moving on to relatively brief stints at HBO and children\u2019s entertainment startup ALFY.<\/p>\n
Then in 2003 came the opportunity that would define the early years of his career: Netflix, where Kyncl started at a time when the movie subscription service had just 1,000 subscribers.<\/p>\n
As the company\u2019s Vice President of Content, Kyncl was a part of the effort, starting in 2005, to pivot Netflix to a streaming model. Netflix launched its streaming service in 2007, and the rest is history.<\/p>\n
\nRobert Kyncl: The YouTube Years<\/h6>\n
\u201cWhen I was approached by Google to come to YouTube [in 2010], I could see how un-figured-out it was back then,\u201d Kyncl said in a 2021 interview at the Royal Television Society<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything I had done before was about subscriptions, I was at HBO for a little bit, at a kids\u2019 subscription service for a little bit, and YouTube was the opposite of that. I figured, I kind of know the other side. This would be an incredible challenge, to be part of the team that figures it out\u2026.\u201d<\/p>\n
And figure it out he did \u2013 by helping shift the company to the subscriber model Kyncl was exposed to early on in his career. As of 2022, YouTube had 80 million paying subscribers<\/a>, including within its Premium and YouTube Music services.<\/p>\n
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