Elyria native takes new role

Hughes now a senior VP at Rhino Entertainment

Elyria native John Hughes is the new senior vice president of Fan Engagement and Innovation for Rhino Entertainment, the catalog division of Warner Music Group.

Based in the company’s downtown Los Angeles headquarters, Hughes will report to Rhino President Mark Pinkus, according to a news release.

“I’m thrilled and honored to continue to connect fans to the music they are passionate about, and I’m grateful to Mark Pinkus, Kevin Gore and the Global Catalog Team for creating an environment where we can experiment, learn and grow,” Hughes said. “There are new worlds to explore,

so off we go.”

Hughes earned a bachelor of arts in communication and marketing from the Army Defense Information School and Cleveland State University in 1998.

He previously held positions at PETCO, GUESS and Wyse Advertising, and also was a broadcast journalist during his time in the United States Army, according to the release.

Hughes will continue to lead the Fan Engagement and Innovation team where he spearheads Rhino’s initiatives to grow new and existing audiences for Warner Music Group’s vast catalog of music in a variety of ways including content development, social media properties, fan communities and podcasts.

He also is the creator and co-producer of the Rhino Podcast which launched in 2018.

“Over the past decade, John’s creativity and forward-thinking philosophies have upheld Rhino’s place as one of the most innovative record labels in the business,” Pinkus said. “I look forward to watching more of his ideas come to life and evolve as we continue to develop deeper and broader relationships with music fans across all the eras and genres of Warner Music’s unparalleled catalog.”

Hughes