Valleywag had the rumor first here…we have confirmed it from Yahoo Music PR: two of the longtime fixtures at Yahoo’s music group have resigned, and the company says it is for personal reasons. Dave Goldberg (VP) and Bob Roback (GM), both of whom came into Yahoo through Yahoo’s acquisition of Launch in 2001, are out, and Vince Broady, Head of Entertainment and Games at Yahoo, is overlooking the division now as part of his broader responsibilities. Goldberg will help in transition and will stay on till April 1.
From the company statement: Goldberg: “After 13 years in this industry, Bob Roback and I look forward to going back to our entrepreneurial roots. I will help in the transition to new leadership.”
Goldberg has been an outspoken critic of music industry’s use of DRM, many years before Jobs manifesto. Of course, Yahoo Music as a download service never did well–though Yahoo Music as a destination site has always been among the top sites in the industry–so that might have hampered any internal or external efforts he might have been trying.
Updated: In a related story, Dennis Mudd, former CEO of MusicMatch–which was sold to Yahoo in 2004 for $160 million–has started a new company along with Jonathan Sasse (formerly of iRiver), and Jim Cady (formerly of Rio) called Broadband Instruments. The new company is close to unveiling a new portable media player. The device will feature wireless connectivity, a new type of integration with online radio stations, a social aspect and most likely some sort of automatic customization feature for recommending new music, this Wired story says.
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