NEWS: QMusic President and VP Resign
Image: Scenestr
A shocking development this week has seen QMusic president Natalie Strijland and Vice-President D-J Wendt resign their positions without notice.
It follows a campaign led by Howard Duggan, Managing Director of Eyeball Media and publisher of national street press title scenestr, who had previously issued a public complaint outlining serious grievances against specific members of the QMusic board in a series of published articles.
The resignations were announced yesterday (Thu 18 July) morning following a meeting of the Management Committee on Wednesday evening. Neither Strijland nor Wendt gave explanations for their sudden departure, with current board members Vivienne Mellish and John Collins filling the vacated roles.
Mr Duggan responded to the announcement in an article published on scenestr.
“In highly unusual circumstances, QMusic offered no explanation for the resignations and no explanation as to why both leaders elected to hand in their cards at the same time,” Mr Duggan writes.
“Both Strijland and Wendt gave no indication of their intentions to stand down at April’s annual general meeting, seemingly unaware they would be handing in their slips eight weeks later.”
QMusic also released a statement regarding the sudden departure of their two leading board members, largely whitewashing the resignations as a natural transition of leadership. It’s a craftily scripted puff piece no doubt concocted by Sound Story, the PR crisis management firm engaged by QMusic to handle the issue.
The resignations of Strijland and Wendt should come as a meaningful victory to Mr Duggan and the broader music industry in what has been a protracted dispute dating back to 2018. Mr Duggan shows no sign of backing down, reaffirming his commitment to the removal of board member Aaron Dahl.
MADCAP Global continues to follow this story as it develops, with the third article in Mr Duggan’s expected five-part series due to be published in August.
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