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Published: Saturday, Dec. 01, 2012 / Updated: Saturday, Dec. 01, 2012 08:36 AM

Muzak lets go of president during reorganization

FORT MILL TOWNSHIP -- 

The president of Fort Mill-based Muzak has been let go from the company, along with an unknown number of jobs across the company, as Muzak’s Canadian owners work to knit together a string of acquisitions.

“At this point we’re looking across all of the business broadly,” said spokeswoman Danielle Wuschke. “As of today there were some redundancies that have been eliminated.”

She confirmed company president Steven Richards was one of those who lost their job over the past few days.

Muzak, which moved to Fort Mill from Seattle in 1999, was bought last year by Mood Media, a similar commercial music provider based in Toronto. Mood Media paid $345 million for the company, which exited Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011. The company operates in the Lakemont office park off Carowinds Boulevard.

Since then, Mood Media has acquired several other U.S. music and marketing companies, including Austin, Texas-based DMX Holdings. John Cullen, the CEO of DMX Holdings, will be assuming much of Richards’ former role as head of Muzak.

Cullen won’t be based in Fort Mill, but Wuschke said he will spend a significant amount of time in the city. She said the company has no plans to relocate its local operations to Austin.

Wuschke wouldn’t say whether the Muzak name will be lost as Mood Media integrates its acquisitions.

“That is something we can’t comment on,” she said. “As of now, the name is still the name.”