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Executive Turntable: ADOR Replaces CEO While TikTok and Universal Nashville Make Moves
Written by djfrosty on August 30, 2024
Welcome to another edition of Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. While you’re here, we also have a weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive and a regularly updated gallery honoring many of the industry figures we’ve lost throughout the year.
HYBE-owned label ADOR appointed Kim Ju-young to replace founder Min Hee-jin as CEO of the imprint, home of K-pop girl group NewJeans. The decision was made on Tuesday (Aug. 27) by ADOR’s board of directors following a turbulent several months of legal disputes, allegations of defamation and an earlier attempt by HYBE to dismiss the exec, who co-founded ADOR in 2021. ADOR said Min, formerly a creative director at SM Entertainment, would continue to produce music for NewJeans. Additionally, ADOR said it will restructure in order to separate its management and production sectors. Kim most recently served as HYBE’s chief HR officer and was previously head of HR at South Korean video game publisher Krafton. The move is the second major leadership change in a month for HYBE, which recently promoted Jason Jaesang Lee to CEO, replacing Jiwon Park in the top spot ahead of what it has since dubbed its “HYBE 2.0” strategy.
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TikTok elevated Toyin Mustapha to head of music partnerships for the UK, Ireland and Sub-Saharan Africa. He joined the ByteDance-owned platform in late 2018 as music content and artist partnerships manager before shifting over to music promotions lead at SoundOn, TikTok’s DIY distribution service. “I’m really looking forward to helping the incredible team continue to build on all of their great work driving music discovery and making TikTok a true home for artists at every stage, as we support as much incredible homegrown talent as possible,” Mustapha said in announcing his move. Back at SoundOn, Nichal Sethi was upped to head of SoundOn for Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). He joined the ByteDance family in 2022 from BMG, where he held a senior director-level position. Remarked Sethi: “I’ve been lucky to work with some amazing artists and teams so far and looking forward to working with many more in the future as we help more independent artists break through on TikTok and beyond.”
Universal Music Group Nashville appointed Derek Anderson as senior vp of commerce. Anderson has more than 15 years of industry and music distribution experience and in this new role, he oversees e-commerce, retail and streaming teams for the label group. Anderson’s career includes time at Sony Music’s RED Distribution, Kobalt/AWAL, The Orchard, Black River Entertainment and New West Records. “Having followed [UMGN’s] industry dominance from afar, I’m very much looking forward to building upon their great foundation and continuing to grow personally and collectively with the UMG team,” said Anderson. –Jessica Nicholson
Sony Music Publishing Australia hired Julian McGruther as senior A&R, a new position at the publisher. He’ll focus on boosting the company’s roster of local talent and report directly to Craig Hawker, Sony Music Publishing’s head of A&R/creative. McGruther joins from Mushroom Music, where in seven years he rose to creative director and worked with artist including Amy Shark, Nat Dunn and Mona Khoshoi, among others.
The Country Radio Broadcasters revealed its elected members for the organization’s 2024-2025 Board of Directors. Returning board officers for 2024-2025 are Kurt Johnson (Townsquare Media) as president, John Shomby (Country’s Radio Coach) as vice president, and Beverlee Brannigan (Beverlee Brannigan LLC Creative Coaching) as secretary. Elected/appointed members of the new board are Emily Cohen Belote (Amazon Music), Justin Chase (Beasley Media Group), Mike Harris (UMG Nashville), Debra Herman (Apple/Shazam), Jennifer Johnson (Riser House Records), Ashley Morrison (iHeartMedia/WFUS), Jordan Pettit (Opry Entertainment Group), Greg Strassell (Hubbard), Allison Warren (Cumulus Nashville) and Kristen Williams (Warner Music Nashville), while those continuing their terms are Chuck Aly (Country Aircheck), George Couri (Triple 8 Management), Gator Harrison (iHeart Country), Steve Hodges (Sony Music Nashville), Clay Hunnicut (BMLG), Kenny Jay (Albright & O’Malley & Brenner), Jon Loba (BMG North America), Mike McVay (McVay Media), RJ Meacham (Curb Records), Brent Michaels (KUZZ), Charlie Morgan (Apple Music), Rod Phillips (iHeart Country), Joel Raab (Joel Raab Country Radio & Media), Royce Risser (The Familie), Tim Roberts (Audacy/WYCD) and Matt Sunshine (The Center for Sales Strategy). –J.N.
BOARD SHORTS: Former Warner Music executive Linda Walker will be joining the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA) as the UK org’s new chair, effective Sept. 1. She succeeds Ben Drury, who served for 18 months in the role. Walker spent nearly 20 years at WMG, rising from an account manager to senior vp of commercial for UK and Europe … Creator-run nonprofit Artist Rights Alliance added songwriter and voice actor Dan Navarro to its board of directors and beefed up its music council with the likes of Aerosmith, Creed, Wolfgang Van Halen, Lauren Daigle, Jerry Flowers, Myles Kennedy and Sevendust. Founded in 2013, the ARA’s mission is to provide “artists and their allies with resources, knowledge, and tools to navigate the complex music business landscape.” It launched its music council, along with an Artists’ Bill of Rights, in mid-2020 with names including Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow and Emmylou Harris. The board and council both provide advisory input and offer their oomph to advocating for legislation to benefit artists rights.
Creator-centric marketing company QYOU Media hired Karen Kehm as vp of communications. Kehm is tasked with overseeing all marketing and communications efforts, along with B2B initiatives, at the company. Prior to QYOU, she held senior communications roles at influencer marketing firm BENlabs and at AOL. “We’re thrilled to welcome Karen to the team to help continue QYOU’s forward trajectory as we head into 2025,” said Glenn Ginsburg, president of QYOU Media. “We are excited to continue to shed light on the innovative work we’re doing across the influencer marketing space, tapping into the cultural zeitgeist to connect our client partners with their target audiences, through socially relevant and authentic campaigns.”
Mike Lisanti recently departed Prodigy Artists to launch MLennial, a new artist management agency with clients including BARELY ALIVE, Kompany, MUZZ and SABAI. The Los Angeles-based manager previously served as chief operating officer at Prodigy, where he was credited with helping to revitalize the career of dubstep DJ/producer Crankdat.