LOS ANGELES (AP) – Sony BMG Music Entertainment said Thursday the top two executives at its Sony Music Label Group U.S. have resigned, the latest shake-up in senior management this year at the No. 2 recording company.

The departure of Don Ienner and Michele Anthony comes less than three months after Ienner, an 18-year veteran of Sony Music, was elevated to chairman in addition to chief executive of the label group.

Anthony, who began working at Sony Music in 1990, was named president of the label group in December on top of her duties as chief operating officer.

Rob Stringer, a 20-year veteran of Sony Music who was appointed chairman and chief executive of Sony BMG’s United Kingdom and Ireland divisions in 2004, has been named president of the U.S. label group, effective Sept. 1, the company said.

In the interim, the label group’s responsibilities will fall to Tim Bowen, Sony BMG’s chief operating officer.

Sony Music Label Group U.S. includes Columbia Records Group, Epic Records, Sony Music Nashville and Sony Urban Music. The group is home to Beyonce, Gretchen Wilson and Three 6 Mafia, among other recording artists.

A Sony BMG spokesman declined to comment on the circumstances of the two executives’ departure. A company statement did not say when the two resigned, only that their resignation was effective immediately.

“Donnie and Michele have been the bedrock upon which Sony Music’s success has been built over the last 18 years and we are very appreciative of their important contributions during this period,” Sony BMG CEO Rolf Schmidt-Holtz said in the statement.

New York-based Sony BMG is a joint venture of Sony Corp. and Bertelsmann AG of Germany.

Ienner and Anthony’s exit is the latest episode in a senior management shuffle at Sony BMG that began in February with Schmidt-Holtz taking over for Andrew Lack, who stepped into Schimdt-Holtz’s former post as chairman of the board. In March, Bowen replaced Michael Smellie.

Over the past 12 months, the recording company has seen its U.S. market share drop from 28.38 percent to 26.41 percent, although it remains second behind Paris-based Vivendi’s Universal Music Group, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

—

On the Net:

Sony BMG: http://www.sonybmg.com

AP-ES-06-01-06 1735EDT