New York - BurnLounge, a service that lets fans create their own music stores that the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last week branded a pyramid scheme and is seeking to shut down, announced on Monday that CEO Alex Arnold has resigned.

BurnLounge co-founders Ryan Dadd and Stephen Murray, along with the company's board, unanimously approved the appointment of Grant D. Johnson -- a current board member and BurnLounge investor -- to succeed Arnold as chief executive.

Johnson is a founding managing partner at Benevolent Capital, and also owns music label Tomato Records.

"This change in management is a first step towards a reinforced focus on building the entertainment company we've always envisioned," said BurnLounge president and co-founder Stephen Murray.

"We're entering a critical growth period for the company and we believe we have the right team in place to fuel this next evolution of the business to benefit our employees, artists, partners, and independent retailers."

The company maintains that its "revolutionary business model" is lawful, and said it is "working to understand and address any legitimate issues and concerns that the FTC may have."

A hearing on the FTC's demands for an injunction and asset freeze against BurnLounge will be held in fedearl court in California on Tuesday.

Related Links:
http://corp.burnlounge.com/default/press_articles/newCEO.html

http://tinyurl.com/yo85nd (DMW previous coverage)