Online music subscription service Pressplay has named Michael Bebel as its new chief executive officer to replace Andy Schuon who is leaving the post after about a year on the job.

Schuon is returning to media conglomerate Viacom and his prior career roots in the radio industry. Viacom announced he would be the new president of Infinity Radio, Viacom's radio station holding company.

The management shuffle comes as the pressplay service, a joint venture of Vivendi's Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment, tries to entice more users to pay up for monthly music downloads and forego free file sharing services that flout copyright law. Its task is similar to other services such as MusicNet, a venture involving Warner Music, EMI and BMG, which have been criticized for not offering a deep enough library of music, and for not allowing more portability with the music once subscribers download it.

The announcement also follows a turbulent week for pressplay's parent, Vivendi Universal, which ousted CEO Jean-Marie Messier and is now trying to raise cash to cover its debt woes.

But Bebel's statement about the promotion appeared to address recent critiques of the pressplay service. "We have a great team at pressplay and a number of exciting developments coming this year, including a new version of the service that will keep pressplay at the forefront of the online music space."

Bebel comes to the position from his current post as chief operating officer of pressplay. Before joining the venture, he was executive vice president of the eLabs division of Universal Music Group (UMG). It was there that he helped get the pressplay service up and running. Before that he worked on other online music ventures as part of UMG's eCAT division.

Doug Morris, chairman and CEO of Universal Music Group, and Thomas D. Mottola, chairman and CEO of Sony Music Entertainment, praised Bebel in a joint statement as part of the announcement.

"Mike is an extremely talented executive with exactly the right blend of experience in music, technology and operations to lead pressplay forward and ensure a seamless transition. We are grateful to Andy Schuon for the role he has played in building and launching the company."