Vinyl Group appoints head of publishing

BY Nathan Jolly

May 20, 2025 10:35

Tahlia Phillips

Vinyl Group has appointed former GM of Concrete Playground Tahlia Phillips as the head of publishing for Vinyl Media, the umbrella for its owned and licensed publications.

Phillips joined Vinyl Group in March, as part of the company’s purchase of Concrete Playground, where she spent a decade. She will lead editorial strategy across the group’s publication suite, and oversee the expansion of local editorial teams.

The company has also appointed Chantelle Schmidt as editorial lead for Refinery 29. She previously led branded and e-commerce content for Pedestrian Group.

Tahlia Phillips

This follows the recent redundancies of numerous staffers, including Vinyl Group’s chief marketing officer Alli Galloway, and Mediaweek’s editor-in-chief Emma Shepherd. Former head of The Brag Media, Jessica Hunter, brought an unfair dismissal claim against Vinyl Group in March, which has since been settled out of court.

Vinyl is backed by Wisetech billionaire Richard White, whose $11m investment in early 2024 allowed it to begin a run of acquisitions.

Vinyl Group launched its media arm in February, following a string of purchases by the deep-pocketed media company. In early 2024, the company bought The Brag Media for $8 million, a business largely built around long-term local licensing deals for legacy publications Rolling Stone and Variety.

The company then purchased the beleaguered Mediaweek brand in September 2024, following the controversial exit of managing director and publisher, Trent Thomas, and licensed women’s lifestyle brand Refinery 29 in January, which collapsed in July 2024, as part of Nine’s restructuring of the Pedestrian Group.

Vinyl Group is currently preparing for another unfair dismissal claim, first brought to the Supreme Court in February by former CEO of The Brag Media, Luke Girgis, who alleges he was unfairly terminated following the sale of the business.

Vinyl Group refuted the charges, and said in an ASX listing it will “vigorously defend” the lawsuit. It also lobbed a counter-allegation, writing: “Girgis was terminated for serious misconduct, including but not limited to financial misconduct.”