Executive Turntable
AGI’s Jarred Arfa Promoted to Chief Operating Officer
Jarred Arfa has been named chief operating officer of Artist Group International. Arfa, whose previous title was general manager/evp, will oversee all aspects of the business, including legal, finance, corporate reporting, business development, human resources, artists tour contracts, VIP ticketing deals, sponsorship and more. AGI is led by chairman Dennis Arfa and is a leading live entertainment agency that books an expansive roster of musicians worldwide. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and make money in the process. Earn rewards by chatting, sharing photos, blogging and help give users back their fair share of Internet revenue...
Downtown Lays Off Nashville Employees Following Concord Publishing Sale
Downtown declined to say how many employees were let go, though sources say it was the creative staffers involved in working with publishing the catalog sold to Concord. Downtown’s statement goes on to add that the company has ended the lease on its Nashville office and is exploring “our options to support the needs of our ongoing business. We continue to employ Nashville-based executives at Downtown Music Services, Songtrust, and Songspace.” Downtown only sold the portion of its publishing catalog that it had an ownership stake in and not the songs and catalogs where it serves as administrator, including those of John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Miles Davis, John Prine, the Wu-Tang Clan and others. The company will now focus on being a multi-faceted service organization for...
Executive Turntable: Kardinal Offishall to Helm A&R at Universal Music Canada
In his new role, Kardinal will continue to discover, sign and develop artists, forge new creative partnerships and provide strategic direction to drive the international success and cultural prominence of UMC’s artist roster. He will work closely with UMC’s urban marketing team while continuing his roles as chair of UMC’s B.L.A.C.K. Coalition (BLC) and Canada’s representative on UMG’s Task Force for Meaningful Change. Republic Records promoted Xiarra-Diamond Nimrod to vp of marketing strategy. In her new role, she will continue to oversee marketing, rollout and release strategy for multiplatinum chart-topping rap artists such as Pop Smoke, Metro Boomin and Jacquees. “We’ve been lucky to have a front row seat to Xiarra’s evolution into a world-class marketing executive,” said Republic’...
Alfonso Perez-Soto Elevated to Warner Recorded Music’s President of Emerging Markets
In recent years, WMG has opened affiliates in India, Turkey and the Middle East, and has inked a string of strategic deals with key labels and distributors, including Doğan Music (Turkey), Ziiki Media (Punjabi music), Africori (Africa), Sky Digital (Punjabi music) and Tips Music (Bollywood). “I want to unlock huge opportunities for artists from the diverse tapestry of countries that we classify as emerging markets,” said Perez-Soto. “I’ll work round the clock to build a global stage for them to stand on, connecting them with fans in their home countries and far beyond.” Robson added: “The increasing connectivity of music fans in emerging markets is opening doors for artists worldwide, but the huge volume of music on streaming services means that, mo...
SoundCloud Names Drew Wilson COO & CFO
In his new role, Wilson will oversee all of SoundCloud’s finance and operations, including workplace and people function. He’ll report directly to SoundCloud CEO Michael Weissman, who was tapped to succeed Kerry Trainor in the role in December 2020. Wilson’s hire comes amid a host of recent changes at the streaming service, including the recent introduction of a “user-centric” royalty system for some of its artists, which pays out based on how many fans listen to their music as opposed to the number of times it gets streamed. That implementation, which is slated to coincide with Wilson’s first day on the job on April 1, will make SoundCloud the first major streaming platform to pivot away from the stream-based royalty payment system that has long been the standard among DSPs. So...
Jim Catino, Longtime Sony Music Nashville A&R Head, to Depart in June
“When I joined Sony Music almost six years ago, there was a need, and thus an opportunity, to reimagine the company’s priorities and what A&R could/should mean for Sony Music Nashville going forward. Particularly in the area of breaking new artists,” Goodman wrote. “Jim has been an important partner in making all of that happen from our very first meeting. Here we are, six short years later, having achieved significant artist break throughs as well as our aspirational goal of claiming #1 current market share for country. None of that would have happened without Jim’s creative vision, leadership and ability to execute. He has made an indelible mark on the amazing legacy of Sony Music Nashville and thus we all owe him a great debt of gratitude.” Among the artists Catino had worked with o...
Diddy’s REVOLT Promotes Detavio Samuels, Colin McIntosh
Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ REVOLT has unveiled key promotions to reshape the top management at the hip-hop cable network after the departure of Roma Khanna as CEO last year. Detavio Samuels, hired as chief operating officer in 2020, is promoted to CEO, while Colin McIntosh adds the COO title to his chief financial officer duties at the Black-owned media company. Samuels and McIntosh started sharing the leadership at REVOLT as co-heads when former MGM and NBCU exec Khanna stepped down as CEO in July 2020. And longtime digital strategist Deon Graham has been upped to chief brand officer at Combs Enterprises, Combs’ portfolio of businesses and investments, where he will work closely with Samuels and McIntosh. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Onlin...
Former CAA Music Agent Aaron Tannenbaum Joins WME
He joins the Hollywood talent agency as a partner, based in Nashville. Veteran music agent Aaron Tannenbaum has joined WME as a partner, based in its Nashville office. The former CAA agent represented country music artists within the touring industry while with the rival Hollywood talent agency since 2010. Before that, Tannenbaum worked at Paradigm. “Aaron has earned a reputation in our business as an agent who has a strong ability to identify talent and takes the long-view in building an artist’s career, making him a great fit for us,” Scott Clayton, WME’s co-head of music, said in a statement. You Deserve to Make Money Even When you are looking for Dates Online. So we reimagined what a dating should be. It begins with giving you back power. Get to meet Beautiful people, chat and ma...
UMG Beefs Up Leadership in Africa, Promoting Sipho Dlamini to CEO Role
All three executives will work closely with UMG’s French-speaking operations principally in Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal and Cameroon, which are overseen by Franck Kacou, directeur général, Universal Music Africa. The strengthening of its Africa leadership team is the latest move in Universal’s big bet on the continent. With an emphasis on A&R, UMG has been aggressively expanding its operations in Africa. Rather than licensing or distributing existing indie labels, Universal has invested in building lasting local infrastructure, including establishing divisions in Nigeria and South Africa, such as Def Jam Africa, which is focused around hip-hop, Afrobeats and trap. In 2018, UMG became the first major label to license its catalog to Boomplay, Africa’s largest local streaming platform. (In Sub...
Executive Turntable: Sony/ATV Names Digital Prez, Sony Music Africa Hires Artist Dev Lead
Bebawi started his publishing career at EMI Music Publishing in Sept. 2005, when he joined as UK head of business affairs after serving as a partner at London-based media and entertainment law firm Harbottle and Lewis. During his time at EMI, he implemented a pioneering restructure of the company’s digital rights and launched the first publisher-led, Pan-European digital licensing initiative outside of the traditional collection society network. Bebawi was later promoted to European General Counsel and, after Sony/ATV acquired EMI in 2007, he joined the former as executive vp, digital and society relations, international and UK. Sony Music Entertainment Africa has enlisted Christine “Seven” Mosha to lead marketing and artist development for the East Africa region, effective immediate...
Frank Amadeo, President of Estefan Enterprises, Dies at 57: ‘You Are Irreplaceable’
“In the great journey that is life, few people appear [that can be counted on] in sad moments and in moments of joy,” wrote Emilio Estefan on Instagram. There are not enough words to express the great love and gratitude that we have for Frank Amadeo. A key man in our lives. You are irreplaceable.” Although Amadeo wasn’t Latin, he was raised in Miami and fell in love with the music of Miami Sound Machine in the group’s early days in the 1980s. Amadeo was program director at Miami pop radio station Y-100 when he first heard “Dr. Beat,” a boisterous dance track built on Latin percussion and rhythm patterns and brash Latin horns with English vocals, courtesy of Gloria Estefan. His support on the station was instrumental in pushing the track to the top of the charts. Beyond the single, Amadeo b...
Mary Megan Peer Succeeds Father Ralph Peer II as Peermusic CEO
As executive chair, Ralph Peer II will retain corporate board responsibilities at peermusic, including providing expertise that helped build the company into one of the world’s top independent music publishing firms. (In the third quarter of 2020, peermusic ranked ninth by marketshare on the Top Radio Airplay chart and 10th on the Hot 100 Songs chart.) Moreover, Peer II will continue to serve as a member of several industry boards, including the National Music Publishers’ Association NMPA and International Confederation of Music Publishers. “It’s been a very satisfying challenge to have stewarded peermusic’s heritage repertoire made possible through the genius of my father and the savoir faire of my mother while simultaneously keeping our firm active and successfully engaged wi...
