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Sony Corporation of America’s personal entertainment business division today announced a partnership between global breakout star Peso Pluma and Sony’s audio brand campaign, “For The Music.” The collaboration marks Pluma’s first brand partnership.
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The agreement further strengthens what is sure to be a record year for the 24-year-old Mexican artist, who just announced a 54-date Exodo arena tour and is set to headline Coachella, Baja Beach Festival, Chicago’s Sueños Festival and New York’s Gov Ball festival. Peso said in a statement to Billboard that he was “excited for the opportunity to collaborate with Sony” and sees the “For The Music” campaign as a chance to open “pathways for Latin Music” markets and audiences around the world. Sony established the audio brand campaign “For The Music” for its premier consumer and professional audio products and services including its noise cancelling headphones, premium noise canceling earbuds, wireless speakers and pro audio hardware.
With “For The Music,” Sony is “affirming itself as the premier audio brand connecting music creators and consumers, aiming to create authentic music experiences and transcend emotion for fans through its personal electronic products,” a press release announcing the deal explains.
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“Since the launch of ‘For The Music,’ we have cultivated such amazing collaborations with artists on products and experiences that have brought their creative vision to fans in new and innovative ways,” says Jordy Freed, head of brand, business development, partner marketing & strategy, personal entertainment business in Sony Corporation of America. “We are thrilled to continue this work with Peso Pluma and support him as he takes his music to new levels.”
Less than one year ago, Plumas was selected as Billboard’s March 2023 Latin Artist on the Rise, setting an agenda to globalize the decades-old música mexicana genre. Since then, he’s landed over 20 songs on the Billboard Hot 100, including his blockbuster collab with Eslabon Armado “Ella Baila Sola,” and his album Génesis, which made history when it debuted and peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, the highest ranking for a Mexican music album on the chart.
Most recently, Sony has partnered with Olivia Rodrigo, Miguel, SZA, Khalid, Tate McRae, and other artists. More here.
Capitol Records Nashville artist Jon Pardi (“Head Over Boots,” “Heartache on the Dance Floor”) signed with WME and will be represented by multiple departments across the agency, including touring, brand partnerships, TV, film and digital. Pardi is managed by Red Light Management’s Gaines Sturdivant and C3 Management’s Charlie Walker. – Jessica Nicholson
British rock band Sleep Token signed with RCA Records. The group is an anonymous, masked collective led by a singer who goes by the name Vessel. Sleep Token is represented by manager Ryan Richards at Future History Management; booking agent Nick Storch at Independent Artist Group for North and South America; and booking agent Paul Ryan at UTA for the rest of the world. It was previously signed to Spinefarm/Universal.
Australian band Crowded House signed a global record deal with BMG for its upcoming eighth studio album, Gravity Stairs, which is slated for release on May 31.
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Bluegrass singer-songwriter Wyatt Ellis signed with WME for global representation. Ellis, who recently released his debut album Happy Valley, is represented by Red Light Management’s Neil Mason and Tom Lord, with Morris Public Relations/Alison Auerbach P.R. overseeing public relations/artist development. The Andrea Roberts Agency is handling radio promotion. “Blue Smoke” feat. Marty Stuart, a song from Happy Valley, was recently in the top spot on Spotify’s New Grass Playlist. – Jessica Nicholson
WME also signed musician and comedian Morgan Jay, whose TV credits include MTV’s Wild’n’Out, Peacock’s Girls5Eva, NBC’s Bring the Funny and Night Court. Jay boasts nearly 3 million TikTok followers and will soon announce a global tour, in addition to already-scheduled dates. He will next be seen in Comedy Central’s Stand-Up Featuring special and the Netflix Is a Joke Festival. He’s managed by Matt Sadeghian of Brillstein Entertainment Partners and Josh Sandler of Granderson Des Rochers.
Digital music company Believe launched PLAYCODE, a new imprint dedicated to the Japanese hip-hop scene, and signed three artists: ¥ellow Bucks, Red Eye and Issei Uno Fifth. This marks Believe’s latest expansion in Japan after launching operations in the country in October.
Melbourne, Australia-based band Glass Beams signed to Ninja Tune ahead of the release of its new EP, Mahal, which is set for release on Mar. 22. The band’s booking representatives are Wasserman agents Brad Owen and Tom Windish in North and South America and Wasserman’s Michael Harvey-Bray for the rest of the world, excluding Australia and New Zealand, where the group is repped by James Ware at WAT artists.
Alt-rock band Dexter and the Moonrocks signed with Nashville-based Severance Records, a division of Big Loud Rock. Its first single on the label, “She Likes Girls,” was released Wednesday (Feb. 14). the band is represented by Mike Krug at WME and manager Chris Schoemann at Lion’s Claw Entertainment.
Rapper and singer-songwriter TK Kravitz (“Ocean”) signed with MNRK Music Group for management. Currently without a label, Kravitz is also represented by VA Premiere Booking out of Atlanta.
MNRK also signed Cleveland-based alternative metal band A Killer’s Confession to its MNRK Heavy imprint globally. “Greed,” the first single under the deal, will be released on Mar. 15, with an album slated for fall. The band is represented by booking agent Andrew Goodfriend at TKO.
French-born singer, model, dancer and actor Lucky Love signed with UTA for live representation worldwide, excluding France. Love released his debut EP, TENDRESSE, in April 2023; he is signed to Belem Music.
Country singer-songwriter Jenna Paulette signed with indie label Leo33. Her debut album, The Girl I Was, was released in March 2023.
Sugar Pit, the rock project of Carbondale, Ill.-based artist Kian Stevens-Winston, signed with Atlantic/Good Luck Have Fun. His debut single on the labels, “Pay Me,” releases on Wednesday (Feb. 21).
Country singer-songwriter Carson Wallace signed with Red Light Management, where he will be represented by Enzo DeVincenzo and Anthony DeVincenzo. Wallace also recently signed a global publishing deal with Relative Music Group in partnership with Sony Music Publishing.
UTA signed Nasvhille-based country singer-songwriter Ian Harrison, a contestant on season 22 of NBC’s The Voice, for global representation in all areas. Harrison is managed by Zach Beebe at OTR Management and Laurel Kittleson-Cobb at Rainier Entertainment. He currently has no label.
Singer and actress Freya Skye signed with Hollywood Records, a division of Disney Music Group, as well as Disney Music Publishing as a songwriter. Skye, who will next appear in the fourth installment of Disney’s Zombies film franchise, previously represented the United Kingdom in the Junior Eurovision Song Contest with the single “Lose My Head.” She will soon record her debut album. Skye is represented by Link Entertainment.
Singer-songwriter Jenna LaMaster signed a management deal with Maverick Nashville. She previously signed to Sheltered Music for publishing. Her representative at Maverick Nashville is Marne McLyman.
WHY&HOW partnered with Audio Up and Audio Chateau Records to manage Uncle Drank, the fictional character created by Audio Up founder Jared Gutstadt and voiced by Will Sasso. The character was first created for the hit Uncle Drank podcast, on which he was voiced by Sasso. Uncle Drank will release a debut album titled Eternal Sunshine of the Tropical Mind via Audio Chateau and Virgin in June, to be followed by a tour. “In the spirit of Spinal Tap and Cheech and Chong, the album will thrill music aficionados and comedy nerds alike with plenty of beer, babes, bananas, boats, bong hits and most importantly beaches,” reads a press release.
Production, label, artist management and publishing company Handcraft Entertainment partnered with long-running Japanese label and entertainment conglomerate B Zone Japan, which signed Handcraft artist Anna Aya. Her debut single, “Someone Else,” was produced by Louis Bell and Michael Africk. The single was distributed by Virgin Music globally, with the exception of Japan. Aya is also a model who has worked with Dior, Chanel, Gucci, Valentino, Fendi and Louis Vuitton and appeared in numerous advertising campaigns.
A federal appeals court has overturned a massive $1 billion copyright verdict won by the major record labels against internet service provider Cox Communications, sending the case back for a new award to be calculated.
In a decision Tuesday (Feb . 20), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit vacated the huge award against Cox over illegal downloading by its subscribers — one of the largest ever in an intellectual property lawsuit — on the grounds that part of the verdict was not supported by the law.
The ruling sets the stage for a new trial, but Cox could still be on the hook for heavy damages. That’s because, while the appeals court overturned the jury’s decision that Cox committed so-called vicarious copyright infringement, it affirmed that the internet service provider (ISP) had still committed a different type of infringement.
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Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group all sued Cox in 2018, seeking to hold the internet giant itself liable for alleged wrongdoing committed by its users. The labels said Cox had ignored hundreds of thousands of infringement notices and had never permanently terminated a single subscriber accused of stealing music.
The case was part of a string of such lawsuits filed against ISPs around the country. Charter Communications, RCN Corp., Grande Communications and others were hit with the same claims around the same time.
ISPs like Cox are often shielded from lawsuits over illegal downloading by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or DMCA. But the judge overseeing the case said that Cox had forfeited that protection by failing to terminate people who repeatedly violated copyright law.
Stripped of that immunity, jurors held Cox liable in December 2019 for the infringement of 10,017 separate songs. They awarded the labels more than $99,000 for each song, adding up to $1 billion. Cox eventually appealed that verdict to the Fourth Circuit, a federal appeals court that could overturn it.
In Tuesday’s ruling, the appeals court said that the jury had been correct to find that Cox had willfully committed so-called contributory copyright infringement — meaning the company had induced or authorized its customers to pirate the music. But the court said that the labels had failed to show that Cox committed vicarious infringement, which would have required proving that the ISP profited from the illegal downloading.
“The continued payment of monthly fees for internet service, even by repeat infringers, was not a financial benefit flowing directly from the copyright infringement itself,” the appeals court wrote. “Sony has not identified any evidence that customers were attracted to Cox’s internet service or paid higher monthly fees because of the opportunity to infringe Plaintiffs’ copyrights.”
Because part of the verdict was tossed out, the court ruled that a new trial would be needed to recalculate the damages award — this time, based only on the finding of contributory infringement.
Rolling Loud has inked an exclusive collaboration with California’s largest cannabis and dispensary company STIIIZY for Rolling Loud California 2024 for the March 14-17 festival at Hollywood Park in Los Angeles. The partnership includes a four-piece product line developed for the four-day fest headlined by Ye and Ty Dolla $ign, Nicki Minaj, Post Malone, and […]
Even after Ozzy Osbourne denied Kanye West‘s sampling request on his new album with Ty Dolla $ign, Vultures 1, elements of the Black Sabbath hit “Iron Man” still appear on the album.
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The version of Vultures 1 that West released does not use that sample of Ozzy Osbourne’s solo band performing “Iron Man” at the 1983 Us Festival. Instead, it uses a sample of West’s own track, “Hell of a Life,” released in 2010 with Universal Music Group (UMG), which also includes an interpolation of Black Sabbath’s “Iron Man” guitar riff. This use would likely also require approval from the members of that band — Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Geezer Butler and Bill Ward — all of whom have writing and publishing credits on “Hell of a Life.”
Because “Hell of a Life” includes several samples, there are actually more songwriters on that track than on “Iron Man” alone. They also include swamp rocker Tony White Joe and Sylvester Stewart, better known as Sly Stone. The Stewart song comes from a sample of “She’s My Baby” by The Mojo Men, a band which Stewart played with and wrote for early on in his career. Randall Wixen, founder of Wixen Music Publishing, which represents “She’s My Baby” and controls a 35% stake in the “Hell of a Life” songwriting and publishing, confirms the “Carnival” use was not cleared by his company either.
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“It’s ironic that Kanye replaced the unlicensed sample of the Ozzy Osbourne track ‘Iron Man’ with a sample of ‘Hell of a Life,’ which also samples a song by Osbourne and Tony Iommi,” says Wixen. “So, he’s just substituted one unauthorized Ozzy sample for another and now brought our song into the picture. In a perfect world, all samples would be approved and cleared prior to release. It is basic respect for the songwriter.”
It’s not the only unlicensed use of a song or recording on the record, either. A spokesperson for Primary Wave, which has a partnership with James Brown‘s estate, tells Billboard that a use of The Godfather of Soul’s oft-sampled “Funky President (People It’s Bad)” was not cleared for use on the Vultures 1 track “Fuk Sumn.”
It is not unusual for albums to be released with unsettled songwriter splits, often to writers and publishers’ consternation. It’s less common that an album is released without clearing samples or interpolations, though Rell Lafargue, president and COO of Reservoir Media, says it still happens. But the level of West’s popularity — and notoriety — makes album an extreme example.
West’s team is working with the sample clearance company Alien Music Services to license these works and, according to multiple sources, they have so far secured a patchwork of licenses needed. Some works are cleared, others are not and some only partially. For example, Lafargue says Reservoir is currently negotiating the use of a sample of Brand Nubian‘s “Slow Down,” for the album track “Keys to My Life,” but the deal is not done yet. Multiple sources also say they were only approached with licensing requests after Vultures 1 was released last Saturday. Now the album is a serious contender to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart next week.
“On the level of Kanye in 2024 to put out an entire album with samples that haven’t even been requested to be cleared, I don’t think I’ve ever really seen that today,” says Lafargue, who helped release De La Soul’s recording catalog to streaming services last year after it was famously tied up in sample clearance issues. “That’s the exception for sure.”
This has already led to problems for the album. On Wednesday, the song “Good (Don’t Die)” was pulled from Spotify following a copyright infringement claim filed days earlier on behalf of Donna Summer‘s estate, and other streaming services soon followed suit. The estate claimed on a social media post that West’s team had asked for permission to use Summer’s iconic hit “I Feel Love” and had been denied, but the album was released with an interpolation on it anyway.
Separately, on Thursday, the platform used to distribute Vultures 1 to streaming services, FUGA, told Billboard it was removing the album from its systems. However, there was no suggestion that was related to sample or interpolation clearance issues. The album is now being distributed by Label Engine, a service owned by Create Music Group.
Che’ Pope from Yeezy Music says that licensing discussions are “in process” for the album and “everything’s in great shape, except for Ozzy Osbourne and Donna Summer.” He says that the Summer use should never have been released, and that the team is working on the “Carnival” issue now. With “Carnival,” Pope says West just needed a “guitar turnaround” on the track (the use appears around 1:43) and they can “figure out a way to play something else there,” unlike with “Good (Don’t Die)” where the interpolation was more material to the song. “There’s a few of us who play guitar,” Pope adds.
West plans to release Vultures as a trilogy project, and Pope says the licensing issues leading up to this album’s release were a matter of which songs were going to make the cut. “We didn’t know what was actually on the album until it got closer to release date,” he says. “So the thing is we had all the samples from what could potentially be all on any of the three volumes.”
It’s rare that streaming services will pull a major artist’s song over an unlicensed sample or interpolation. More typically, a deal is worked out between the artist’s and creators’ teams to put a license in place, and since the track is already out the artist loses leverage in those negotiations and will often give up a larger share of the rights. This was famously the case with The Verve‘s hit “Bittersweet Symphony,” which was based on a sample from a 1965 version of The Rolling Stones‘ song “The Last Time.” Since the band did not clear the song with The Rolling Stones’ former manager, Allen Klein, who owned the copyrights to their pre-1970 songs, frontman Richard Ashcroft was forced to relinquish all publishing to Klein’s company ABKCO Music and the songwriting credits were changed to The Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards.
While West built a name for himself as an all-time great hip-hop producer with exquisite use of samples and interpolations, with this release that’s been complicated by his recent history of antisemitism, starting in 2022 and after which he was widely condemned and lost numerous business deals. Speaking with Billboard on Feb. 9, Ozzy Osbourne’s wife and manager Sharon Osbourne noted that Ozzy often allows other artists to sample his work, “but the simple thing is, we don’t want to be associated with a hater.”
Sharon Osbourne, who is daughter of the U.K. music manager Don Arden and was raised Jewish, continued, “To spread hate the way he does, it shouldn’t be allowed. All the excuses — he’s bipolar or whatever — doesn’t change that. It’s like, f— you, basically.”
In all, Vultures 1 has at least two dozen samples and interpolations across 16 tracks, according to the website WhoSampled.com and reviewed by Billboard. Those include several uses of West’s own older music, like with “Hell of a Life” on “Carnival” and his 2012 track “Cold” on “Vultures” — all of which would presumably require licenses with UMG, under which he released those earlier recordings. There are also uses of samples from the film Dogma and a TikTok video of a cheer group and an interview with Mike Tyson from a podcast with Hollywood Unlocked’s Jason Lee, who was formerly West’s head of media and partnerships. And, of course, there is a lot of other creators’ music.
Pope says the licensing process on this album has not been “different from any album” prior, but adds that as West’s first proper release as an independent artist after he no longer benefits from easier clearances within the UMG system. (Aside from West’s own tracks, the UMG record samples include “Back That Azz Up (Back That Thang Up)” by Juvenile, “Bring the Noise” by Public Enemy and “Jubilation” by Pierre Henry and Spooky Tooth, among others.) There are also the image issues. “The landscape, his reality is different,” says Pope. “He’s got an uphill battle in certain areas. Clearing samples is never easy, but this one is more challenging just because of how the landscape on everything is.”
Most record labels and publishers contacted for this story declined to comment, with many saying they do not speak on individual licensing deals and that their policy is to follow their artists’ and songwriters’ wishes in these cases. Not every artist and songwriter involved, however, may know that their work is featured on Vultures 1.
Indie R&B artist Dijon posted to Instagram Stories on Feb. 9, a day before the album’s release, suggesting that he was unaware his song “Good Luck” was being sampled on the track “Stars”. (Now Pope says Dijon “should be good,” though, and the artist’s reps declined to comment.) Wixen and Primary Wave only learned of their creators’ uses on the album until Billboard contacted the companies, and considering the complexity of licensing a sample that contains a sample, it’s easy to imagine that some rights holders still don’t know their work is being used.
Edie Brickell & the New Bohemians, for example, according to the Songview database, have songwriting credits on Brand Nubian’s “Slow Down” because it samples their 1988 hit “What I Am.” Universal Music Publishing Group, which reps the band’s publishing on the song did not respond to request for comment.
The song “Fuk Sumn” also samples late Three 6 Mafia member Koopsta Knicca‘s underground single “Smoking on a J,” which itself samples the Days of Our Lives theme song and Isaac Hayes‘ “Walk From Regio’s” off the 1971 Shaft soundtrack, according to WhoSampled.com and Billboard‘s own review.
West’s own “So Appalled” from 2010 is sampled on the track “Problematic,” but that also includes Manfred Mann on the songwriting credits due to a sample of “You Are – I Am,” according to Songview.
All said, a project like Vultures 1 could require upwards of 50 clearances, says Danny Zook, CEO of Alien Music Services. “We are working diligently to clear all the samples on this project,” he says.
Believe’s share price jumped 19.2% to 14.78 euros ($15.93) this week following Monday’s news that a consortium including founder/CEO Denis Ladegaillerie plans to take the company private at 15.00 euros per share. The scant difference between the offer price and Friday’s closing price suggests investors believe Ladegaillerie, along with investment funds EQT and TCV, is likely to get the deal done.
“Believe has a significant opportunity ahead to consolidate the independent music market and create the first global major independent,” Ladegaillerie said in a statement. But the consortium, which has 71.9% of outstanding shares, has a good distance to go. After the group obtains a 75% stake through already agreed-upon transactions with some shareholders, it will acquire regulatory approvals and the opinion of an independent expert before making a tender offer for the remaining shares.
The Billboard Global Music Index rose 1.4% to a record 1,659.96 as 13 of the index’s 20 stocks finished the week in positive territory. That brought the index’s year-to-date gain to 8.2%. Over the last 52 weeks, the index is up 29.4%.
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Thanks to Believe’s double-digit gain and improvements from some large companies such as Live Nation, CTS Eventim and Spotify, the Billboard Global Music Index outperformed many other indexes around the world. In the US, the Nasdaq composite and the S&P 500 declined 1.3% and 0.4%, respectively. South Korea’s KOSPI composite index rose 1.1% to 2,648.76. In the United Kingdom, the FTSE 100 gained 1.8% to 7,711.71.
U.S. stocks had an off week, rocked by news on Tuesday (Feb. 13) that U.S. prices rose 0.3% in January. That led investors to flee from stocks for fear that the higher-than-expected inflation figures would cause the Federal Reserve to keep interest rates high to cool the economy. Then on Thursday (Feb. 15), numbers from the U.S. Census Bureau showed that retail sales fell 0.8% in January, worse than the expected 0.3% decline and well below December’s 0.4% gain.
Spotify gained another 2.2% to $246.18, bringing its year-to-date gain to 31.0%. Live Nation shares improved 4.2% to $93.27 ahead of the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release on Feb. 22. Reservoir Media rose 8.6% to $6.96 a week after the company raised its guidance for full-year results and posted 19% revenue growth last quarter.
K-pop stocks have had a terrible start to 2024, though there was some improvement this week. SM Entertainment gained 9.7% to 80,100 won ($60.11), improving its year-to-date decline to 13%. HYBE, which is down 10.7% year-to-date, gained 4.3% to 208,500 won ($156.46). YG Entertainment rose 3.1% to 43,500 won ($32.64) but has fallen 14.5% in 2024. And JYP Entertainment managed a modest 0.7% gain, bringing its year-to-date deficit to 24.4%.
If rock and roll were dead, it would be bad news for the Marshall Group, the Swedish company that manufactures its namesake guitar amplifier. But the company behind the amp doesn’t think rock is anywhere close to expiring — and its most recent earnings result backs that up.
In fact, the Marshall Group doesn’t believe rock is confined to a music genre. “We think Marshall represents the rock and roll attitude,” says CEO Jeremy de Maillard. “We don’t think this is about the music genre, we think this is about attitude.”
Since last year, Marshall, which was founded in the United Kingdom, has been running out of a country better known for Spotify and pop music: Sweden. In 2023, Stockholm-based Zound Industries, a maker of headphones and wireless speakers, acquired Marshall Amplification and took the name The Marshall Group. The Marshall family retained a 24% stake in the company and family heirs Terry and Victoria Marshall each have a seat on the board of directors. Altor Funds came aboard in September as a minority investor.
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De Maillard calls it “a very complimentary acquisition” that retained “almost everyone” from both companies other than “a couple changes at the very top,” as the two companies’ management structures were integrated into one group. And Zound and Marshall had a history well before the acquisition: Zound had collaborated with Marshall for 14 years and put the Marshall brand on its headphones and speakers. “It’s kind of like we were dating, and now we’re married,” de Maillard adds.
The marriage appears to be off to a good start. Last year, the Marshall Group’s revenue increased 29% to 4 billion kroner ($380 million) and its adjusted operating profit improved 77% to 757 million kroner ($72 million), the company announced Thursday (Feb. 14). Pro-forma revenue — which includes Marshall Amplification and its subsidiaries for the full year — grew 18% year over year. Although the company is privately held, it releases select financial information to the public: “We believe that having the right rigor and financial reporting that is expected of a public company is good behavior and makes us a stronger company,” explains de Maillard.
A quarter of the Marshall Group’s sales come from headphones while 70% is derived from speakers and 5% come from amplifiers, according to de Maillard. The Marshall brand accounts for 98% of the Marshall Group’s revenue, with the remaining 2% coming from Urbanears and adidas headphones.
With the merger behind him, de Maillard’s plan is to invest in the Marshall brand and launch new products to increase its share of the $100 billion music technology market that currently stands at less than 1%. In the last six months, the Marshall Group has invested in Marshall’s U.K. manufacturing facility, which produces hand-made valve amps and houses a recording studio. This year, the Marshall Group will begin to offer its entire portfolio at a revamped Marshall website to build a stronger direct-to-consumer sales channel.
The company will continue to push its iconic hand-made valve amplifiers but will step up its strategy with its digital amplifiers and digital tools, says de Maillard. Digital amps have a variety of uses, he explains; the smaller amps are good for practicing and rehearsing in small spaces, for example, and don’t require the muscle or energy requirements of a larger valve amplifier. Last year, the Marshall Group launched the Studio JTM Amplifier and the Middleton, a portable speaker, while also debuting wireless noise-canceling headphones called the Motif II A.N.C. More products are set to launch in 2024, de Maillard says.
“It’s one of the most known and loved brands in that space that has over 60 years of incredible legacy,” says de Maillard. “We see our responsibility now as the Marshall Group to write the next chapter of that and to build the next 60 years.”
Few events can stitch together the various webs of American culture like the Super Bowl, and the numbers this year bear that out: With 123.7 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research, the Big Game last Sunday (Feb. 11) was the most-watched broadcast since the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969. And that means a lot of eyeballs for a lot of high-profile advertisement slots, which were priced accordingly: Commercials for the event this year went for as much as $7 million for a 30-second ad, according to the Wall Street Journal.
That makes working on such ads a high-stakes game, not to mention one that’s highly coveted in the world of music supervision and production. This year, boutique music and sound design company Barking Owl Sound landed seven such spots, doing sound design, mixing and production for ads with Booking.com (with Tina Fey) and Etsy; music arrangement and production for Budweiser’s spot; sound design, mix, production and original music for Starry’s ad with Ice Spice (No. 10 on Billboard‘s list of best commercials from the event); mixing and production for Paramount+’s Champions League ad; sound design and production for Kia’s commercial; and original music and production for Homes.com’s Mascot ad. And that high-profile work for the firm earns Barking Owl Sound co-founder/executive creative director Kelly Bayett the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
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Here, Bayett discusses the behind-the-scenes work that goes into the sound production of a Super Bowl ad; how she helped build Barking Owl and its creative team as well as its new music library, along with the opportunities it entails for them; and what’s next for the company. “With seven spots this year, it really solidifies our position in the industry moving forward and opens us up to new opportunities,” Bayett says. “We can accept the challenge and our team can excel with a number of projects under the highest amount of pressure. Moving forward, we are strong as ever and ready for anything.”
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This week, Barking Owl worked on the music for seven Super Bowl advertisements, including for Etsy, Budweiser, Kia and more. What key decisions did you make to help make that happen?
In our industry, getting Super Bowl ads is definitely relationship-dependent. An agency and client will rarely go to a vendor they don’t know and trust for a piece with millions of dollars on the line. Our key decisions are actually based on building the long term and not what feels fast and easy. [It’s about] focusing on growing relationships that last and consistently keeping the work you are doing fresh and interesting.
Can you tell me about how the company got started and your philosophy around what you do and what work you choose to get involved with, particularly as it pertains to these spots?
I was a single mom and I and my then-boyfriend, now husband, decided to start a music and sound design company in our home. Fourteen years later, we have added mix, brand partnerships, gorgeous studios in L.A. and New York as well as a global team of composers and writers. Our philosophy was to create a company that focused on creative and felt like home. We care about the craft of sound. If you look at any piece of work we have done for the Super Bowl, or anything on our reel, you will see that we don’t just grab sounds out of the library. We create them for each moment and we have been really fortunate to attract clients who value and appreciate the process.
What is the typical process for how you guys work on a commercial like these?
We will get a brief from the agency, and from there, it’s go time. We get on a call and talk about the process, creative directives, and then we start to create and build. It’s important to us to have the agency involved in the collaboration so that there are no surprises on either side. We keep it fun and light, we have amazing executive producers in New York and L.A. in Ashley Benton and KC Dossett who keep everyone on task. It’s the only time of year where every job is racing to the same finish line, so it takes incredible scheduling and organization.
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Your work on these was a mix of sound design, mixing, production, arrangement and original music. How do you approach each of those roles differently?
We have different teams of specialists for each role. Original music can be the trickiest a lot of the time because we are creating themes, tones and movement with an incredibly fast timeline. You are working with personal taste, and when it comes to thoughts about music, there is no right or wrong, it’s all about feeling. Sometimes, you just don’t like something because it doesn’t move you, and that can be challenging. We have to become detectives and figure out what isn’t hitting emotionally or tonally. Sometimes the whole team is on board with the exception of one holdout, and even though majority rules, I feel like we have failed if everyone has not left happy.
Arrangements are really about timing and vision of the track. Sound design is one of the most fun pieces, and also the piece that if we do it exactly right with hours of foley recording and sound manipulation, it will feel like we have done nothing at all. Mixing is the glue that keeps all of it together, giving space for the dialogue, VO, music and sound design. A great mix is dynamic, a bad mix is overly compressed and you lose the craft of each element you have so diligently created. Having our work destroyed by lazy mixers inspired the creation of our mix department.
Music production work like this is a competitive space, dealing with both huge companies and smaller houses. How do you guys compete within that environment, and stand out against your competitors?
It’s an incredibly competitive environment and it only gets more competitive as new companies are popping up each day. I have never really been one to look around and see what others are doing. I am solely focused on our mission, our purpose and what work we are putting out there. How are we showing up each day? Is it good enough? We are also a female-founded company with female creative leads, which is highly unusual. I came up in a space that was so insanely male, we wanted to bring a different perspective and change the landscape with female composers, mixers and sound designers. Everyone matters and everyone is supported here. When people feel supported they are free to create better and more inventive work. We created a structure where we all work as a team and there is no internal competition. That is a huge difference as well. Our employee retention is incredibly high and we all know each other so well, it’s truly like family.
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You’re also building out your own music library. What will that allow you to do, and how can that allow you to grow in the future?
I am so insanely excited about this. We have this amazing library of about 15,000 original tracks from years of demos created for commercials that never sold. The quality we expect from composers and the years of crafting and scoring have resulted in an incredibly varied, diverse library of tracks that are of the highest creative level. We didn’t exactly know what to do with them or how to set up a library, but we knew that we could offer something unique to the industry, as well as broadening our reach to TV and film. Last year, we brought in a partner, Kirkland Lynch, who leads these types of strategic initiatives as CEO. Kirkland brings experience from years with Sony Music, Universal Music Group, Stevie Wonder and YouTube Music. He has been a great addition to the team bringing an understanding and knowledge we really needed.
What does success look like from your point of view for a commercial like these? And with seven spots at this year’s game, what does that allow you guys to do moving forward?
We aren’t in charge of the overall idea, so the success for us is to see if we have executed the idea in the best way possible. Sound design properly in the space, the music scored and arranged in a way that tells the story and makes you feel something, mixes where each sound element complements the other — that is success. With seven spots this year, it really solidifies our position in the industry moving forward and opens us up to new opportunities. We can accept the challenge and our team can excel with a number of projects under the highest amount of pressure. Moving forward, we are strong as ever and ready for anything.
On this week’s Billboard Canadian Hot 100, the late Punjabi music sensation Sidhu Moose Wala debuts in the top 10, with posthumous single “Drippy.”
The hard-hitting track finds Moose Wala and Canadian rapper AR Paisley trading verses — the former in Punjabi, the latter in English — over an ominous trap beat from producer MXRCI. “Stop playing these games / cause out in these streets s–t could get pricey,” raps Paisley, “could cost you your life / so don’t take that lightly.”
The song arrives nearly two years after Moose Wala’s 2022 murder in Mansa, India. The artist moved to Brampton in 2016 and quickly rose to prominence in the Punjabi rap scene, eventually starting his own label and moving back to India, where he became involved in politics. His shocking death came right before a planned eight-date Canadian tour, during which he was booked to play Vancouver’s Pacific Coliseum.
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Moose Wala has previously had 13 charting songs on the Canadian Hot 100, with several landing after his death — but has never cracked the top 10 before. As Punjabi music becomes a major force in Canada, he leaves behind a significant legacy, evident in the strong support for singles like “Drippy.” His influence also shows in artists like Paisley, who’s signed to 91 North, the joint label between Warner Music Canada and Warner Music India to promote South Asian music worldwide. – Rosie Long Decter
Canadian Indie Rock Band Hollerado Reunite as Tokyo Police Club Break Up
It’s been five years since Canadian indie group Hollerado called it quits. But they’re getting the band back together in order to send-off fellow indie rockers Tokyo Police Club, who are playing their final shows this November. Hollerado will open for Tokyo Police Club at two of their four dates at Toronto’s History.
The shows mark a full circle moment for both bands, who came up around the same time in the late 2000s Canadian indie scene. Tokyo Police Club opened for Hollerado at their final shows in 2019. “When they told us that it was their turn to hang up the skates, and asked if we would come out of retirement to join em,” the band wrote on Instagram, “of course we said YES.”
Hollerado had a gold record with 2010’s “Juliette,” off the Ottawa band’s debut album Record in a Bag. The band also hit No. 42 on Billboard‘s Canada Rock chart in 2019 with “One Last Time.” Since breaking up, members have focused on other projects and ventures, like popular label Royal Mountain Records, helmed by the band’s frontman Menno Versteeg.
Now, they’ll be joining their friends in Tokyo Police Club one last time, to give the Newmarket, Ontario band a proper goodbye. Tokyo Police Club were one of the biggest breakouts of Canada’s indie rock wave in the 2000s, playing Coachella and Letterman. The success of their 2006 EP A Lesson in Crime helped inspire guitar bands across the country. In 2010, they spoke with Billboard about the sessions for their sophomore album, Champ.
Guitar music has gone through a whole cycle of falling out of style and coming back in since 2010, its forms evolving and expanding along the way. If Tokyo Police Club hasn’t had as big a profile in recent years, there’s clearly still a lot of love for the band: three out of four of their farewell shows have already sold out. The last one, on Nov. 26, still has a few available here. – Rosie Long Decter
Canadian Music Appointments and Signings
Quebec City-based country singer and songwriter Alison Daniels has signed on with 604 Records with her debut “Who, What, Where, When, Why?” released Feb. 9 via Warner Music Canada.
Victoria-based musician Michael Kaeshammer has just announced the release date for his new album and a new worldwide deal with Seven.One Starwatch/Sony Music Germany. He recently wrapped up what is described as SRO tours in China and Germany and heads back to Germany in May for a theatre tour. He recently signed a touring deal with German event promoter MMP/Starwatch. Meanwhile, Kaeshammer’s Kitchen, his television show fusing music with cooking, has been renewed for its second season, airing on Yes and CHEK stations.
Secret City Records has named Magali Ould as GM. A former independent publicist, she joined in 2011 and has held various positions with the Montreal-based music company since. In naming her to the role, president/CEO Justin West stated: “Secret City’s tremendous growth, as well as the accelerated pace of the changing market, both bring new challenges and opportunities and drive the need for additional management infrastructure to ensure the relevant parts of the organization continue to function at the highest level. The General Manager role addresses that need and will help unlock our potential for future growth and expansion.”
Quebec rapper Lost has been named as a participant in YouTube’s FIFTY DEEP Music Class of 2024, a grants program that champions and provides support for Black artists, songwriters and producers in the hip-hop arena. The class is comprised of 27 global artists, songwriters, and producers from the U.S., Brazil, Sub-Saharan Africa, Canada and beyond. Read more about FIFTY DEEP here. – David Farrell & Kerry Doole
Last Week In Canada: This Unsung Canadian Cleaned Up at the Grammys
It’s time for another quick spindle around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. When you’re done with that, get a readout of the most powerful people in the music biz with the latest Power 100 list.
Time marches on at Furnace Record Pressing as the Metallica-backed vinyl manufacturing plant welcomes Ali Miller as new CEO beginning March 1. Miller, who has rocked the COO role since 2018, will take over the top job from FRP’s founder and minority owner Eric Astor, who transitions to a strategic advisor at the plant he founded in 1996. He’ll remain a trusted member of the board. Miller’s rise makes her the first female CEO of a domestic pressing plant. The CEO switch arrives nearly a year after Metallica and their investment arm Black Squirrel Partners purchased a majority stake in the Northern Virginia facility — already the band’s trusted vinyl presser for over a decade. At the time, Miller affirmed her company’s commitment to quality over quantity in comments to Billboard, explaining, “We’d rather throw out some bad records than make as many as we can.”
“Since the day Ali joined Furnace, I knew she possessed the exceptional talent, dedication, and passion to thrive in this industry,” Astor said of Miller, who has over 16 years at Furnace. “She has been instrumental in shaping Furnace into the respected force it is today. I am confident that with Ali at the helm, Furnace will continue to deliver the highest quality vinyl records and remain a trusted partner to artists and labels for years to come.”
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Michael Kushner
Jimmy Fontaine
Just shy of his 25th anniversary at Atlantic Records, veteran legal executive Michael Kushner is shifting over to parent company Warner Music Group to be the label giant’s new senior vp, deputy general counsel of business and legal affairs. The promotion is right on the heels of Kushner being honored with the 2024 Entertainment Law Initiative (ELI) Service Award, given each year to an attorney who has shown their stripes in supporting the music community through service. The NYC-based Kushner reports to evp & general counsel Paul Robinson,” who called the respected exec “one of the sharpest legal minds in the business.” Kush, as he’s called, launched his music biz career at PolyGram Records in 1987. Stints at Philips Media, Crave Records (the Mariah Carey/Sony Music joint) and Sony Wonder followed over the next 10 years before a gig as head of business & legal affairs at Island Def Jam to close out the 20th century. In 2001, he joined Atlantic under the title he’s kept the entire time: evp, business & legal affairs and general counsel.
“It’s been a pleasure and an honor to count Kush as a trusted partner and close friend for the past 25 years,” said Atlantic Music Group chairman & CEO Julie Greenwald. “He’s guided countless deals, modernized our contracts, mentored our amazing BA department, and been there for me, Craig, and our Atlantic team morning, noon, and night. Artists and managers love him, because he not only has a brilliant business brain, but a creative brain that allows him to see their point of view. Atlantic wouldn’t be the company it is today without him, and it’s fantastic to see him graduate to this brand-new role.”
Meanwhile …
Messina Touring Group upped three to vice president. Lauren Cairerises rises from director of finance to vp of finance, Keena Cheatham from promoter rep to vp of touring, and LeeAnn Rotondo from director of ticketing to vp of ticketing. Cheatham joined MTG in 2013 as a promoter rep on Taylor Swift’s Red Tour and has gone on to have a hand in over half of the company’s roster. Caire and Rotondo both joined up in 2015 as senior accountant and ticket manager, respectively. Caire is coming off a busy 2023, managing the finances for blockbuster tours by Swift, Ed Sheeran and George Strait, and more. Under Rotondo’s leadership, MTG’s formerly fragmented ticketing strategy has become more centralized and streamlined. “It thrills me to see our MTG team grow – these individuals are just another example of the incredible MTG team,” said CEO Louis Messina. You can reach Caire lauren@messinatouring.com, Cheatham keena@messinatouring.com and Rotondo leeann@messinatouring.com.
Credit: Neil Patel
RCA Records promoted label veteran Kunal “KJ” Jadav to senior vp of A&R and marketing, effective immediately. The Atlanta-based exec reports directly to RCA president Mark Pitts. Jadav got his start at RCA in 2015 in the promotions department, but as the label puts it, “an incredible prowess for discovering and developing talent” eventually delivered him to A&R, where since 2017 he has scouted, signed and developed hip-hop acts including Young Nudy, BabyDrill and Kenny Mason. KJ is also credited with managing “Gassed Up” MC Nebu Kiniza and producer Coupe, who has worked with Young Nudy, 21 Savage and others.
Radio host, executive and music supervisor Jason Bentley is the new president of licensing and soundtracks at Thrive Music. In his new role, Bentley will pursue business development opportunities for sync services across the film, TV, advertising and video game spaces. He’ll also team up with Virgin Music Group, Thrive’s distributor, to acquire and boost soundtrack properties with insightful music solutions. Bentley previously served as music director at KCRW, where he did double duty as music director and host of “Morning Becomes Eclectic” for more than a decade. In the record business, he has worked in A&R at both Island and Maverick, and as a supe for film, he produced the soundtrack for a little thing called The Matrix, and served as consultant on the latest Top Gun flick. “Thrive is on the frontlines of dance music culture, and I’m thrilled to join Ricardo [Vinas, founder] and the Thrive team as they continue to build a global force in dance music,” Bentley said.
Decorated music business manager Bruce Kolbrenner has joined Adeptus Advisors as the managing partner in the firm’s Los Angeles office. Kolbrenner, formerly of Prager Metis, brings along a team of three to Adeptus: business managers Tyler Kizu and Ghilhaine Georges Montoya, and royalty specialist Troy Schreck. Kolbrenner’s over four decades of experience includes his work advising artists of all stripes and offering testimony at high-profile entertainment cases, plus a memorable stint as the accountant for the historic Moscow Music Peace Festival in 1989. He is a regular fixture in Billboard’s annual lists of top business managers. “We are thrilled to welcome Bruce Kolbrenner and his outstanding team,” said Howard Krant, CEO of Adeptus Advisors. “Bruce’s extraordinary talent for nurturing emerging artists aligns seamlessly with our vision for creating unparalleled personal service to our clients.”
Transgressive Records hired former Atlantic Records exec Jack Hedges to fill the newly created position of general manager of North America, effective immediately. In the role, Hedges will oversee the UK label’s expansion across the pond, including signing and developing new acts and widening the playing field for their existing roster artists. Hedges comes bearing gifts in the form of Canvasback Music, the boutique imprint he ran under Atlantic that’ll now live within Transgressive. “With his impeccable taste, a reputation for being universally revered by artists and colleagues alike, not to mention a glorious penchant for underground music, Jack is most definitely the right person to guide Transgressive Records and its roster through to new heights in the world’s biggest music territory,” said Transgressive directors Toby L, Tim Dellow and Lilas Bourboulon.
Operation Song, a non-profit that teams veterans, active-duty military and their families with professional songwriters to share their stories through song, has announced the appointment of Army veteran Jon Foti as CEO. In the newly-created role, Foti will oversee fundraising development and the expansion of partnerships within the music industry and veterans organizations. Foti is also currently leading the non-profit’s search for new office space in Nashville, Tennessee, to accommodate the organization’s growth. Operation Song’s Board of Directors includes leaders in Nashville’s music, healthcare, and technology sectors. In addition to board president Bob Leonard, the board is comprised of Dennis Buchanan, Kevin M. Doherty, Joe Forte, Danielle Lauber, songwriter Cindy Morgan, Debbie Respess, Jeff Rice, Jason Rose, Andy Sale, ASCAP’s Mike Sistad, and radio personality Storme Warren. –Jessica Nicholson
Oak View Group promoted Katee LaPoff to chief technology officer and Josh Pell to president of premium experiences and global strategy. In her new role, LaPoff will lead OVG’s tech team and continue reporting to Steve Collins, president of global venue development, Ade Patton, CFO, and Chris Granger, the president of OVG360. Over the last three years, she has served as svp of project management and technology — focusing on venue technology. Prior to OVG, LaPoff spent 10 years as svp of technology at Madison Square Garden Companies. In his elevated role, Pell will oversee the company’s e-commerce platform and continue to manage OVG’s hospitality and food/beverage design initiatives. He’ll continue to report to Steve Collins as well as to Francesca Bodie, COO.
All in the Family: Billboard president Mike Van welcomed a lengthy string of promotions this week. They include Edward Stepankovsky (regional vice president of brand partnerships), Andrea Guevara-Gresh (senior account manager), Kristen Wisneski (account manager), Gary Trust (managing director, charts & data operations), Alex Vitoulis (director, charts & data production), Ciara Zimring (McVey) (director of strategy and production), Emily Fuentes (senior manager content and production), Stefanie Tanaka (senior manager content and strategy), Meghan Mahar (branded producer and social manager), Lyndsey Havens (deputy editor), Kristin Robinson (senior writer), Rebecca Milzoff (executive editor, magazine), Griselda Flores (senior editor), Hannah Johnson (staff writer), Danielle Pascual (social media manager), Rania Aniftos (associate editor) and Josh Glicksman (associate editor).
Spirit Music Group promoted Tamar Wax to vice president of film & TV music, creative. Previously a senior director, Wax is based out of Los Angeles and reports to svp of creative services Amy Hartman. Since joining SMG in 2019, Wax’s handiwork has helped place several songs by Spirit artists in movie and TV trailers, most notably a remix of Daddy Yankee’s classic hit “Gasolina” in the Fast X spot. Prior to joining Spirit, Wax served as vp of creative at Vibrant Ground Music. “Tamar has proven herself to be an exceptional creative sync licensing executive, having landed multiple high-profile sync licenses for our Spirit Music Group roster across trailers, promo campaigns, TV shows and films,” said Hartman. “We couldn’t be happier to acknowledge her dedication to our songwriters and our music supervisor community with this well-deserved promotion.”
NASHVILLE NOTES: The Academy of Country Music hired Ben Carter as vp of live events and production; Matt Brum-Taylor as director of digital marketing; Lexi Cothran as senior manager of communications and strategic initiatives; Kendra Williams is the new coordinator of finance; Brooke Boyd is assistant, ACM Lifting Lives; and Heather Howard was hired as an assistant in the marketing department … The organization also announced that Raj Kapoor is returning as executive producer of this year’s ACM Awards .. Vroom vroom, Big Machine’s Scott Borchetta will now oversee operations for the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix, an annual NTT IndyCar Series race held in Nashville.
REFORM Alliance debuted Wallace “Wallo267” Peeples to lead the criminal justice reform organization’s marketing efforts as chief marketing officer. REFORM was formed by Meek Mill, Jay-Z and Fanatics chief Michael Rubin in wake of the #FreeMeek movement and since 2019 has helped pass 18 pieces of bipartisan legislation across 11 states as it strives to get people out of the justice system and into wellness and work. “Wallo267 is a son of Philadelphia, the city where REFORM Alliance was born,” said REFORM CEO Robert Rooks. “Through hard experience, he developed a life philosophy rooted in accountability, second chances, and never giving up. Today, he carries that message of hope to his millions of social media followers.”
Rothenberg, Mohr & Binder LLP, a bi-coastal music and entertainment law firm, promoted Lisa Lester to partner with the firm. Since 2020, Lester’s work at RM&B has included representing Top Dawg Entertainment, Marshmello and Big Time Rush, among other clients. The Los Angeles-based partner also works with a wide slate of producers and songwriters, including Rob Kinelski, Noah Goldstein, BUNT. And others. Founding partners Paul Rothenberg, Jeremy Mohr and Josh Binder said “Lisa’s dedication to clients and work on behalf of the firm is second to none – and this promotion is well deserved. Her prior years of experience across the industry and high level work here at the firm since 2020 have given her unique insight and expertise that few others share.”
The Oriel Company promoted Nina Lee to vp of communications at the Carleen Donovan/Chloë Walsh/Jen Appel-founded PR agency. Lee joined The Oriel in June 2021 and has already executed media campaigns for a roster that includes Maxwell, Daniel Caesar, UMI, Hannibal Buress, No ID, d4vd, James Fauntleroy, Sickamore, and Betty Who, as well as corprorate clients including Amazon Music, Live Nation and 88rising. She is based in The Oriel Company’s New York office.
There’s a new player in artist management with the launch of What’s Good Projects. The Nashville company is a partnership between industry veterans Ryan Kroon and Jacob Knight, who between them have 20 years of experience managing the day-to-day careers of artists including ERNEST, Sam Hunt, Maddie and Tae, Tyler Farr and Mason Ramsey, among others. Kroon got his start at HOMESTEAD/RedLight Management and later joined Sony Music Nashville and then Project 615. Knight began his career at CAA before joining 377/RedLight and most recently KPEntertainment. WGP’s inaugural client roster includes Troy Cartwright, Clayton Mullen, Palmer Anthony, Austin Burke and Ollie Joseph. “Jacob and I moved to Nashville around the same time to pursue careers in this industry and have had an immense mutual respect for one another,” Kroon explains. “We’ve chatted over the years about partnering up, so with the continued growth of What’s Good over the last year, the time seemed right.”
Raphael Saadiq’s music production company, My Kind of Music/My Kind of Movies, tapped Yancey Richardson to oversee music supervision for the firm’s film and TV projects, including the upcoming film Freaky Tales. Richardson is an 18-year veteran at Atlantic Records, where he rose to director of marketing promotion, and he started his own productions company, Toler Heights Music.
Round Room Live, producer and promoter of family shows like Blippi, Sesame Street Live! and the national tour of Shrek the Musical, has hired Dale Shaughnessy as vp of marketing. In her new position, Shaughnessy will be responsible for driving revenue and marketing opportunities, including on the corporate side, and overseeing global touring projects and user-building initiatives. Shaughnessy joins the company following more than 15 years of professional experience in the field at a range of industry leaders like Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, Live Nation and Feld Entertainment.
ICYMI:
Cumulus Media marked May 31 as the last day for vp of country Charlie Cook, a member of the Country Radio Hall of Fame … Hooray for ex-SoundCloud exec Jessica Rivera (pictured), who joined Issa Rae’s HOORAE as president of its Radio division … and Sony Music Publishing hired Anghami veteran Dounia Chaaban to lead its new office in Dubai.
Last Week’s Turntable: Merlin Swarms Its Data Team With New Hires