Executive Turntable
SiriusXM Taps Former Wall Street Journal Marketing Chief for New Subscription Role
SiriusXM has brought on Suzi Watford, the former chief marketing officer for Dow Jones and the Wall Street Journal, to oversee the satellite radio giant’s streaming subscription business, the company said on Tuesday. Watford will join SiriusXM in the newly created role of chief growth officer and report to Joe Verbrugge, SiriusXM’s chief commercial officer. Her position will also include oversight of corporate marketing, data and research across SiriusXM and Pandora. “Suzi has repeatedly demonstrated her ability to build and lead talented teams to evolve and grow profitable consumer subscription businesses, and we are thrilled to have her join us,” Verbrugge said in a statement. Watford has spent the majority of her career at Murdoch-controlled media companies like News Corp.’s N...
UK Music Indie Body AIM Appoints Silvia Montello as New CEO
LONDON — Less than a year after being appointed chief executive of the Association for Electronic Music, Silvia Montello is exiting the global trade body to become CEO of AIM, the London-based Association of Independent Music. Montello takes up the new post on Jan. 31. She will succeed Paul Pacifico, who leaves AIM later this month to head up the Saudi Music Commission, where he will be responsible for developing and championing the music sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In April, the London-based Montello was appointed the first female CEO of the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM). The New York-headquartered non-profit organization, founded in 2013, represents the interests of over 250 electronic music companies across 25 countries. ...
UK Music Indie Body AIM Appoints Silvia Montello as New CEO
LONDON — Less than a year after being appointed chief executive of the Association for Electronic Music, Silvia Montello is exiting the global trade body to become CEO of AIM, the London-based Association of Independent Music. Montello takes up the new post on Jan. 31. She will succeed Paul Pacifico, who leaves AIM later this month to head up the Saudi Music Commission, where he will be responsible for developing and championing the music sector in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In April, the London-based Montello was appointed the first female CEO of the Association for Electronic Music (AFEM). The New York-headquartered non-profit organization, founded in 2013, represents the interests of over 250 electronic music companies across 25 countries. ...
Jeff Blackburn Retires as Head of Amazon’s Global Entertainment Group
Jeff Blackburn is retiring. The head of Amazon’s Global Entertainment Group will sign off from the company in January after more than two decades with the retail giant and streaming platform. The moves were announced Friday via internal memos from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy and Blackburn himself. The news comes a year and a half after Blackburn returned from a yearlong sabbatical in a new role as head of the company’s global entertainment group that included combined oversight of music, audio entertainment, games and video for the company. Blackburn’s decision to retire comes after a busy week at Amazon. The e-commerce giant this week fully integrated MGM into its exec ranks after its $8.5 billion purchase of the storied studio closed in May. Amazon Studios head Jennifer Sal...
Executive Turntable: Warner Records Appoints Marketing SVP; iHeartRadio Vet Adds Digital Music to Prez Purview
Shawnae Corbett-Rice was promoted to senior vp of marketing at Warner Records. Based in Los Angeles, she will continue to oversee marketing campaigns focused on artist development. She reports to executive vp of marketing & artist development Dionnee Harper. Jon Zellner was named president of programming operations and digital music for iHeartRadio, effective immediately. Zellner was previously president of programming operations. In the new role, Zellner will manage the programming, content and strategy for iHeartRadio’s digital channels and playlists while continuing to oversee iHeartMedia’s programming operations. In addition to running programming and strategy for the iHeartMedia custom and format center stations, he will continue to lead the company’s commercial production center,...
Newly-Formed Indie Promoter Restless Presents Launching With L.A.’s Substance 2022 Festival
Veteran Los Angeles concert promoters and talent buyers Brian Tarney and Liz Garo have joined forces to form Restless Presents, an indie promotion company that’s producing the upcoming Substance 2022 festival. Previously produced by Tarney’s ticketing and marketing company Restless Nights and Live Nation, the annual celebration of dark rock, industrial, electronic post-punk will feature one of its strongest lineups to date, with performers including Jesus And Mary Chain, The Chameleons, Clock DVA, Cabaret Voltaire co-founder Steven Mallinder, electro-royalty ensemble Miss Kittin And The Hacker, Boy Harsher, Light Asylum, Youth Code, SEXTILE and Kontravoid. The festival is slated for Oct. 21 and 22 at the Los Angeles Theater. Tarney and Garo have...
Executive Turntable: Sony Music Taps SVP of Strategy & Investments; L.A. Radio Legend Retires
Angela Lopes was promoted to senior vp of strategy and investments at Sony Music Entertainment as part of the company’s newly-announced combination of its corporate and digital investments, M&A and strategic planning teams. In the role, Lopes — who was previously senior vp of digital strategy & investments — will work with Sony Music’s executive leadership and global digital business teams to develop strategies and investing opportunities to support the company’s creative and financial growth. She will also focus on expanding Sony Music’s investments across development areas, including global streaming, artist services, the creator economy, social media, gaming, NFTs and the metaverse. The New York-based Thomas reports to COO Kevin Kelleher and president of global digital business ...
Former Roblox Head of Music Jonathan Vlassopulos Joins Napster as CEO
Former Roblox vp and global head of music Jonathan Vlassopulos has joined Napster as CEO, the company announced Sunday (Sept. 25). Vlassopulos, who departed Roblox in April after three years, became known for shaping the company’s cutting-edge virtual concert strategy in the early days of the pandemic, with the platform hosting blockbuster virtual shows for artists including Lil Nas X, Tai Verdes, Twenty One Pilots and 24KGoldn. He also navigated Roblox through a rough patch after the company was sued by the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) for copyright infringement in June 2021. The two parties settled the $200 million lawsuit three months later and launched talks for go-forward licensing deals. Vlassopulos joins Napster four months after the company — which began in 1999 as...
Pete Simmons to Lead A&R at Universal Music Publishing Group in UK
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) has announced the promotion of Pete Simmons to head of A&R, UK. He will report to the managing director, Mike McCormack. Simmons is the major publisher’s third new high-level A&R appointment in recent weeks, following news that Jennifer Knoepfle will become evp, co-head of U.S. A&R and David Gray, co-head of U.S. A&R, will also take on duties as UMPG’s Global Creative Group. (The Global Creative Group has been described as a new initiative by the publisher to identify and expand global creative opportunities for its signees). Simmons has been at the company since 2014 when he joined as an A&R scout. Since then, the young A&R has helped sign and develop top talents like Rex Orange County, Tom Misch, Thundercat, Four Tet, Bicep,...
Executive Turntable: iHeartRadio Appoints New Product Chief; Warner Names Legal Head for Catalog
iHeartMedia named Uta Knablein chief product officer at iHeartRadio; she was previously executive vp of iHeartRadio’s flagship products and user experience. Knablein succeeds Chris Williams in the role and will report to iHeartMedia Digital Audio Group CEO Conal Byrne. Tracie Parry was named senior vp, head of business & legal affairs at Warner Recorded Music‘s global catalog division; she was previously senior vp/head of U.S. legal shared services for Warner Music Group’s Center of Excellence. Based in Nashville, Parry will continue much of her previous oversight in the shared services role, with those responsibilities now shifting to the global catalog team. She will additionally bring several members of her current legal team to the global catalog team, including vp of legal affairs...
Def Jam Names Mike Hamilton SVP of Streaming & Commerce
Def Jam has named Mike Hamilton as its new senior vp of streaming and commerce, the label announced Thursday (Sept. 15). The music executive, who was named a 2021 Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Power Player, has helped guide the streaming success of artists like Giveon, Future, DJ Khaled, Travis Scott, 21 Savage and Cardi B. “Mike boasts some of the best relationships in the industry, and brings a deep, nuanced understanding of the streaming ecosystem and a keen eye for strategy,” said Tunji Balogun, Def Jam chairman and CEO. “Our company and our artists will immediately benefit from Mike’s experience and expertise, and I’m beyond excited to finally work alongside him in breaking new artists together under the Def Jam banner.” Prior to his new role, Hamilton served for three years as senio...
Executive Turntable: Warner Records Names A&R VP; Exceleration Music Taps Legal Head
Sean Stevens was promoted to vp of A&R and head of research & analytics at Warner Records in Los Angeles; he was previously senior director. Exceleration Music named Jennifer Newman Sharpe as the company’s head of legal & business affairs and general counsel. Based in New York, Newman Sharpe will oversee the process of developing agreements and negotiating contracts across all areas of the business. Raoul Chatterjee, SoundCloud‘s vp of content partnerships and operations, announced he will exit the streaming platform effective Aug. 31 after more than 6 years with the company. His departure follows SoundCloud CEO Michael Weissman‘s announcement earlier this month that the company would be cutting “up to 20%” of staff. The Blues Foundation named Kimberly Horton interim president ...
