Executive Turntable
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Downtown Music continues to reconfigure its business with the appointment of Emily Stephenson as its new president of publishing and Jedd Katrancha as chief commercial officer. Along with the new leaders, global president of Downtown Music Services, Mike Smith, has stepped down “to pursue several personal projects and to focus on his ongoing charitable work,” according to a press release. News of the leadership shuffle arrives just over a week after the company’s CEO, Andrew Bergman, wrote a letter to Downtown staff announcing a second round of layoffs, citing the “reorganization” of the company. Stephenson, who most recently served as the division’s vp of business operations, will now oversee all publishing efforts at Downtown Music, including client acquisition and business development, A&R, rights management and client services for the group’s publishing companies: Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust and Sheer. She will be joined in these efforts by Jedd Katrancha, who was promoted to chief commercial officer of publishing. Katrancha will oversee business development, A&R and synch for Downtown’s publishing companies. – Kristin Robinson
ASCAP announced the 12 writer and 12 publisher members elected to serve on its board of directors for a two-year term beginning Saturday (April 1). In addition to ASCAP president/chairman of the board Paul Williams, writer members re-elected in the at-large field include composer/songwriter Jon Batiste; composer Richard Bellis; composer Bruce Broughton; songwriter/producer Desmond Child; composer Sharon Farber; writer vice chair composer Dan Foliart; songwriter/composer Michelle Lewis; composer/producer Marcus Miller; songwriter Jimmy Webb; and composer Doug Wood. Composer Alex Shapiro was re-elected in the symphonic and concert field. Meanwhile, the newly elected publisher director is Jon Singer (Spirit Music), while the publisher directors re-elected in the at-large field are Peter Brodsky (Sony Music Publishing); Bob Bruderman (Kobalt); Marti Cuevas (Mayimba Music); Keith Hauprich (BMG US); Dean Kay (Lichelle Music Company); Evan Lamberg (Universal Music Publishing Group); Leeds Levy (Leeds Music); Carianne Marshall (Warner Chappell Music); Mary Megan Peer (peermusic); and publisher vice chair Irwin Z. Robinson (Cromwell Music). James M. Kendrick of European American Music was re-elected in the symphonic and concert field.
Katie Soo was named chief business officer at live event ticketing platform DICE; she joins from educational subscription platform KiwiCo, where she served as chief marketing officer and remains as an advisor. In her role, Soo will oversee DICE’s consumer marketing, business-to-business marketing, fan experience, brand and creative, new growth initiatives and social and communications teams.
[PIAS] appointed Tom Keil as global head of dance and electronic/executive vp of A&R. Based in London, Keil joins the company from Ultra Music in Europe, where he served as general manager/vp of A&R. He can be reached at tom.keil@pias.com.
Business-to-business music and streaming solutions provider Tuned Global announced the hire and promotion of six team members to “supercharge” its business in Europe, according to a press release. Jonas Norberg, founder of DJ artificial intelligence company Pacemaker, was named the company’s head of AI and brings two members of his Pacemaker team with him: co-founder/chief technology officer Daniel Wallner and product development director Victor Garcia. Also hired were Daniel Kirby (as presales technical consultant) and Mateus Moura (as customer success manager), who will both work with Tuned Global’s senior vp/head of EMEA Rick Gleave to provide customers with technical support and insights. Lastly, Virginie Chelles was promoted to vp/head of marketing & communications; now located in France, she will work to boost the company’s growth in the territory.
Sounds and samples marketplace Splice hired Kevin Stewart as senior vp of engineering and David Ericksen as senior vp of product. Both will report to Splice CEO Kakul Srivastava. Stewart joins from Harvest and Ericksen joins from Adobe.
Good Company Entertainment — the firm that manages Jake Owen and Daves Highway and also boasts the independent label GCE Records — added Anna Schaeffer, Amy Jackson, Parker Fowler and Liz Sledge to the team. Schaeffer joins as manager of art direction and social media strategies, Jackson (formerly at UMG) joins as manager of marketing & consumer strategies, Fowler (formerly at Triple Tigers) joins as associate manager and Sledge joins as executive director of the Jake Owen Foundation. Schaeffer can be reached at anna@goodcompanyent.com, Jackson can be reached at amy@goodcompanyent.com, Fowler can be reached at parker@goodcompanyent.com and Sledge can be reached at liz@jakeowenfoundation.org.
Charlotte Bwana was promoted to vp of marketing and brand strategy at Audiomack, where she will lead the execution of brand strategies and oversee promotional initiatives across Africa. She can be reached at charlotte@audiomack.com.
The Alliance for Women Film Composers elected new leadership and a new board, with Heather McIntosh and Allyson Newman elected co-presidents of the organization. They succeed Catherine Joy, who has served as president since 2021. Elsewhere, Esin Aydingoz was elected secretary and Thomas Mikusz was elected treasurer. The remainder of the board is comprised of Joy, Alexandra Petkovski, Chanda Dancy, Connor Cook, Daisy Coole, Ghiya Rushidat, Jenna Fentimen, Laura Karpman, Lili Haydn, Lolita Ritmanis, Mandy Hoffman, Nami Melumad, Starr Parodi and Stephanie Economou. The executive director is Raashi Kulkarni. The alliance also created the position of vp of outreach and inclusion and appointed Sharon Farber to fill the role.
Entertainment business management firm FBMM promoted Regina A. Bassett, Fred Ford, Jeff Jones and Emily Walker to associate business managers.
Shore Fire Media promoted four across the public relations agency’s New York-based teams. Ailie Orzak and Victorie Selce have each been elevated to account executive positions, while Mary Claire “MC” Miskell and Rachel Jacobs were upped to junior account executives.
Maureen Loughran was named director/curator of Smithsonian Folkways Recordings — the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian — effective Monday (March 27). Loughran, who is currently senior producer of the nationally distributed public radio series American Routes, will also oversee the Ralph Rinzler Folklife Archives and Collections. She succeeds Daniel Sheehy, the former director of Smithsonian Folkways, who had come out of retirement to serve as interim director for the past two years. Loughran can be reached at LoughranME@si.edu.
Better Noise Music promoted senior label manager Trish Sterling to vp of marketing; UK & Europe promotions manager Claudia Mancino to international director of press & promotion; senior vp of finance Harris Masood to CFO; and director of financial operations Chekesha McCalla to vp of finance. Also promoted was Dan Sears to director of production and Michael Filippone to finance manager. Additionally, the company hired Michael Lombardi as head of production and development; Paolo Bettaglio as senior director of digital marketing & audience growth; Elisa Nye — hired by Bettaglio — as senior manager of digital marketing & audience growth; Chandler Booth as marketing manager; and Liam Kay as production coordinator. Mancino can be reached at claudia@betternoise.com.
Kobalt named Lindsey Lanier as vp of creative and Desi O’Meara as director of creative. The Los Angeles-based Lanier most recently served as vp of A&R at Motown Records and the New York-based O’Meara was most recently director of A&R at Columbia Records.
Various Artists Management appointed Joe Etchells as head of A&R and artist development, effective April 2. Etchells will be based between the company’s London and Los Angeles offices, reporting to CEO David Bianchi and U.K. managing director John Dawkins. He will work across the company’s artist management, music publishing and label operations. Etchells joins from EMI, where he served as A&R director. He can be reached at joe@variousartistsmanagement.com.
Jon “Ando” Andolina launched The Francis June Group for management, bringing with him flagship client, Big Loud Records artist Larry Fleet (“Where I Find God”). Andolina was previously co-founder/partner at Good Company Entertainment alongside Jake Owen and Keith Gale. Andolina can be reached at ando@thefrancisjunegroup.com.
Jammcard — styled as a LinkedIn for the music industry — announced the launch of Jammcard Films. Filmmaker Jack Piatt, who was originally director of operations for Jammcard, will serve as president of the new division, while Caroline Hoste — a partner at Piatt’s Highway West Entertainment as well as a Jammcard advisor — will serve as vp. Meanwhile, Jammcard founder Elmo Lovano will fill the role of executive producer. Forthcoming Jammcard Film releases include the feature-length documentaries Immediate Family directed by Denny Tedesco and Trap Jazz directed by Sadé Clacken Joseph. Piatt can be reached at Jack@highwaywestent.com, Hoste can be reached at Caroline@highwaywestent.com and Lovano can be reached at elmo@jammcard.com.
On-air personality/podcaster/producer Ashley Eicher launched her own media company, AE Entertainment, which will provide story consulting, media coaching and content creation for clients. She can be reached at ashley@aeentertainment.co.
Nashville Notes:
International Bluegrass Music Association executive director Pat Morris resigned from his post effective March 24, allowing him to move out of state to address family medical issues. Former executive director Paul Schiminger will handle the role on an interim basis … T.J. Dula joined iHeartMedia/Raleigh-Durham, N.C., as senior vp of sales. She was previously Disney ABC Television Group digital sales director. The five-station Raleigh cluster includes country WNCB … Pandora senior director of country programming Johnny Chiang added SiriusXM country programming to his job description … Subscribe to our weekly Country Update newsletter for more Music City news.
Jonas Wikström was promoted to managing director of the Nordics at Universal Music Publishing Scandinavia, succeeding Martin Ingeström, who will remain with the company as chairman of UMP Nordics until his retirement in June. Reporting to UMPG COO Marc Cimino, Wikström is responsible for UMPG’s creative and business operations in the Nordics; he was most recently executive vp of A&R/creative.
Veronica Sanjines was named general manager at Arista Records. The New York-based executive will report to Arista president/CEO David Massey as she oversees general operations for the label and collaborates with the entire roster. She was most recently vp of marketing at Warner Records.
Arica Ng was named president of Asia Pacific at Warner Chappell Music. She joins the company from Meta, where she served as head of music business development in the Asia Pacific.
FUGA appointed Dorothée Imhoff as chief commercial officer, Liz Northeast as senior vp of EMEA and Sven Zeevalk as global head of operations. Meanwhile, former chief commercial officer David Driessen will move to the new position as chief business officer of FUGA’s parent company, Downtown Music, while Darren Owen has been promoted to COO at FUGA. Imhoff has been with FUGA since 2014 when he joined as a business development consultant. Northeast, who was previously FUGA’s GM, U.K., will be responsible for the company’s commercial strategy and business within the wider U.K. and EMEA markets. Zeevalk, who was previously regional head of operations at FUGA, will be responsible for the company’s global operations, including overseeing the regional heads of APAC, EMEA and Americas as well as all client integrations and the global support team. He’s been with FUGA since 2017 when he joined as content manager. Erica De Marchi will take on the role of regional head of operations following Zeevalk’s promotion.
John Coletta was promoted to senior vp & managing director of international at BMI; he was previously vp of international legal & business affairs. Based in New York, Coletta will report to BMI executive vp of licensing & creative Mike Steinberg while overseeing the company’s international department, working closely with foreign performing rights societies to improve business practices and identify growth opportunities. He will additionally work to modernize BMI’s reciprocal agreements and oversee global copyright initiatives. He succeeds BMI vp of international society relations Karen Buse in the role; Buse helped manage the international team on a temporary basis.
Songwriter-producer Bloodpop founded and launched game development studio Genpop Interactive alongside former DeNA and BANDAI NAMCO executive Aubrey Tennant; he will serve as CEO and game director. The studio’s focus is on “building original AAA games that will drive forward the next-gen of music, fashion and gaming culture,” with its first project described as “an ambitious third person shooter with novel movement and combat mechanics.” The company recently raised $6.5 million in seed funding. In a statement, Bloodpop said: “At a time when low risk tolerance among established studios has resulted in predictable re-releases capitalizing on millennial nostalgia, Gen-Z is eager for new IP that speaks to them, and has a long legacy that defines their generation. Major studios have become complacent, relying on giving the Weekend at Bernie’s treatment to their old IP with their publicly traded necromancy. We aren’t just on a mission to create the next great game, but nurture the next generation of popular culture.”
300 Entertainment promoted three executives: Ryan MacTaggart to senior vp of artist development & lifestyle marketing, Gary “Bolo” Sargeant to vp of urban & rhythm promotion and Michael McArthur to vp of A&R. MacTaggart will continue to focus on immersive marketing and artist development, Sargeant will lead promotion at the urban and rhythm formats and McArthur will sign and develop new talent. All three are based in New York.
Shawna Spears was named vp of brand marketing at Venice Music. Joining from TikTok, where she led artist and manager partnerships in hip-hop and R&B, Spears will build and lead the company’s brand marketing team, develop and execute the marketing roadmap across distribution channels and more. She reports to Venice Music executive vp and GM Fadia Kader and can be reached at shawna@venicemusic.co.
The American Association of Independent Music (A2IM) promoted Evan Plake to director of partnerships and Chirag Patel to associate of membership. Additionally, Greyson Zeng was hired as community manager and Nicolle Gutierrez Ospina was hired as executive assistant and accounts administrator. Plake oversees brand partnerships and creative collaborations across the organization’s membership, Patel will continue connecting and supporting indie labels and Zeng will help grow and curate A2IM’s digital and in-person community. Gutierrez Ospina joins from Gold Business Management. Plake can be reached at evan@a2im.org, Patel can be reached at chirag@a2im.org, Zeng can be reached at greyson@a2im.org and Gutierrez Ospina can be reached at nicolle@a2im.org.
Michelle Teh was named senior vp of global classics & jazz at Universal Music Group. She assumes the role after serving on UMG’s global priorities team.
Jesus Trivino is taking on an expanded role at TIDAL; he will continue to lead the company’s Latin team but will now also serve as head of TIDAL’s industry relations (for general market) team.
Vanessa Kanapin was named director of A&R for Germany, Switzerland and Austria at Ultra International Music Publishing. The Berlin-based executive will report to company founder/CEO Patrick Moxey. She joins Ultra from German independent publisher Budde Music, where she was A&R and song plugging manager. Kanapin can be reached at vanessa.kanapin@ultrapublishing.com.
Former Virgin EMI Records senior director Tony Barnes was announced as the co-founder of Karta, a metaverse studio established in 2021 that provides experiential marketing for musicians, brands and sports teams. He co-founded the company with CEO Erik Londré. “Since its launch, Karta has delivered successful projects across Roblox, Fortnite and Decentraland for the likes of Amazon Music, Fnatic, Unilever and Ronald McDonald House,” reads a press release, which notes the company also recently built a fan hub on Roblox for K-pop group TWICE. Barnes can be reached at tony@karta.game.
Jason Leiss was promoted to business manager at FBMM, where he will continue to lead a team of five and oversee all financial aspects for his clients in both business and personal finance.
Alex Coslov rises to executive vp of marketing strategy at Republic Records and head of marketing at Mercury Records, a dual role and a reward for leading the campaign for Morgan Wallen’s One Thing At A Time and other hits.
Based in Republic’s New York City headquarters, the marketing exec is a past 40 under 40 honoree in Billboard, and he’s had a hand in a growing list of wins. His professional highlights include Wallen’s blockbuster One Thing At A Time, which recently blasted to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with over 501,000 equivalent album units in its debut frame, this year’s best single-week tally; and Glass Animals’ slow-burning Billboard Hot 100 leader “Heat Waves.”
Coslov continues to lead marketing for frontline releases for Wallen, Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, Greta Van Fleet, Florence + The Machine, Noah Kahan, James Blake and Yung Gravy, reads a statement issued today (March 16).
“Alex intimately understands his artists at a core level,” comments Republic co-president Jim Roppo. “He speaks their language and immerses himself in their respective worlds for every single release. This is his superpower. By doing so, he develops innovative campaigns that reflect their identities and, simultaneously, engage audiences from a fresh perspective. It’s an honor to announce his promotion.”
Adds Mercury president Tyler Arnold, “we are thrilled to officially welcome Alex to the Mercury family. He is one of the most innovative and forward-thinking executives in our industry and has already played an integral role in the success of our artists’ careers. We cannot wait to shape this next chapter of Mercury Records together.”
Coslov joined Republic Records in 2017 as vp of marketing strategy, and has served as senior vp of marketing strategy since 2021. That five-year run has yielded four CLIO Awards, the annual award program that celebrates excellence in advertising, design and communication. Prior to that, Coslov chalked up four years with dance music brand Ultra Music, where he led its marketing department. Earlier roles included internships with SESAC, Epic Records and Red Light Management.
Johnny Chiang, Pandora’s senior director of country programming, will expand his role to also oversee country music programming at SiriusXM, the company tells Billboard. Chiang will report to SiriusXM/Pandora’s GM and senior vp of music programming Steve Blatter.
Chiang’s new role fills duties previously held by JR Schumann, who exited SiriusXM in July 2022. Darrin Smith, SiriusXM’s vp of programming, oversaw the satellite broadcaster’s country channels on an interim basis.
Before joining Pandora in July 2022, Chiang served as vp of radio promotions and artist development at Red Street Records following the announcement that the label had launched a country division. Prior to his work with Red Street, Chiang spent 18 years at KKBQ in Houston and was also the Cox country format leader.
During Chiang’s time at KKBQ, the station was named the Country Music Association’s major market station of the year three times (in 2014, 2016 and 2018), as well as the Academy of Country Music’s major market station of the year in 2017. It also won the Marconi four times (in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2018). In 2016, Billboard named him the most influential country program director in the United States.
During Nashville’s Country Radio Seminar earlier this week, Chiang led a panel during CRS’ Digital Music Summit titled “Sweet Streams (Are Made of These),” which provided an overview of music streaming services. The panel also included Spotify’s Rachel Whitney and Amazon Music’s Michelle Tigard Kammerer, as each music service detailed their respective platforms’ tools for independent artists and discussed the role of playlisting in music marketing, how DSPs use data to make decisions and more.
Chiang’s role expansion comes on the heels of SiriusXM’s announcement earlier this month that it would be laying off 475 employees, or 8% of its workforce. In a statement that followed, CEO Jennifer Witz called the job cuts difficult but “the right thing to do” as the business grapples with lower ad sales, a still-delayed recovery in the automotive subscription business and major investments in its technology.
Warner Music Group’s chief financial officer Eric Levin told staff on Tuesday that after a “transformative decade” for the company, he will retire at the end of the year, according to an internal memo viewed by Billboard.
Levin said he decided to announce his retirement early in the year to allow the company to move forward with a public search for his successor, similar to WMG’s handling of the successor search for former WMG CEO Stephen Cooper, who stepped down Feb. 1.
Levin joined WMG in 2014, overseeing the company’s global financial operations at a time when piracy and streaming were overhauling the fortunes of companies across the music industry.
“He helped WMG return to growth and profitability, making important contributions to its long-term strategy and the funding of its global expansion and major acquisitions,” WMG CEO Robert Kyncl wrote in a staff memo about Levin’s planned retirement. “Eric will be leaving WMG in a much better place than when he joined it.”
Prior to WMG, Levin was based in China as the North Asia CFO and regional controller for Ecolab, a leading maker of disinfectants, and prior to that he was the CFO of the Hong Kong-based English language newspaper the South China Morning Post.
Levin saw WMG through its 2020 initial public offering, which valued the company at around $12.5 billion, and managed through the leadership transition from Cooper to Kyncl. On Tuesday, Levin wrote that he is “ready to pass the baton to a new CFO.”
“It’s going to be a natural progression, at a natural time,” Levin wrote. “Whoever takes this role will be very fortunate. I’m looking forward to helping set them up for another successful decade of growth.”
Julie Adam was named executive vp/general manager at Universal Music Canada, where she will lead frontline operations, overseeing marketing, digital strategy, commercial affairs and brand partnership portfolios. Adam joins from Rogers Sports & Media, where she was most recently president of news & entertainment.
Alison Donald was promoted to head of global creative at Kobalt, where she will be based between London and Los Angeles. She previously oversaw A&R and creative in the U.K. and Europe for Kobalt Music Publishing as well as AWAL’s U.K. and Europe creative team prior to its sale.
Jennifer Blakeman joined Seeker Music as chief rights & royalties officer. She comes from boutique music publisher one77 Music, where she served as president/chief creative officer. In her new role, she will lead and oversee the expansion of Seeker’s rights management, administration and royalty platforms. Blakeman can be reached at blakeman@seekermusic.com.
Michael Allen was named vp of marketing strategy at Republic Records, where he will develop and execute campaigns for artists across pop and K-pop. The New York-based executive joined Republic in 2020 as a digital marketing consultant.
Gabe Fleet joined law firm Latham & Watkins as partner in the connectivity, privacy & information practice. Fleet, a prominent music licensing lawyer, joins from iHeartMedia, where he served as executive vp of business affairs and chief music licensing counsel. He anticipates being part of Latham’s New York office upon admission to the New York Bar; he is currently licensed to practice in Georgia and Alabama. He can be reached at Gabe.Fleet@lw.com.
Merlin announced several promotions. They include Ryan McWhinnie to vp of business and legal affairs, Shrina Patel to senior director of business and legal affairs, Chris Tarbet to senior director of commercial partnerships, Chaida Kapfunde to senior director of business and technology solutions, Pavan Vasdev to director of strategy & growth, Quentin Martins to senior manager of commercial partnerships and Grace Styles to senior finance assistant.
Big Machine Label Group promoted Courtney Daly, Bekah Digby and Marie Wapelhorst to director of streaming and Anna Scott Welch to manager of streaming. Sam Featherstone also joined the company as director of streaming; he was previously at Sony Music Entertainment, where he served as associate director of commercial partnerships. Daly can be reached at courtney.daly@bmlg.net, Digby can be reached at bekah.digby@bmlg.net, Featherstone can be reached at sam.featherstone@bmlg.net, Wapelhorst can be reached at marie.wapelhorst@bmlg.net and Scott Welch can be reached at annascott.welch@bmlg.net.
Red Street Records hired several new team members, including Brooklynn Gould-Bradbury as manager of publicity and communications, Dottie Chamberlain as executive assistant/operations manager and Riley Cooper as digital marketing coordinator. Gould-Bradbury joins from CMT and can be reached at brooklynn.g@redstreetrecords.com. Chamberlain joins from Universal Music Nashville, where she served as executive assistant to chairman/CEO Mike Dungan (for whom she worked for nearly three decades). She can be reached at Dottie.c@redstreetrecords.com. Cooper, who is coming off internships with companies including Sweet Talk Publicity and Triple 8 Management, can be reached at riley.c@redstreetrecords.com.
Universal Music Group senior vp of business and legal affairs Aaron Harrison was appointed to the SoundExchange board of directors; he replaces Sony Music’s Jeff Walker. Harrison also serves on the SoundExchange licensing committee.
Hannah Babitt, CEO/founder of Los Angeles-based boutique management company BABZ, announced the opening of BABZ Nashville. Babitt will oversee BABZ in both Los Angeles and Nashville, with Jacklyn Figueiredo and Eden Lytle based in Los Angeles.
Claudia Russo was named senior vp of corporate communications at UTA. She joins from Verizon Business Markets, where she served as head of communications. Beginning in the role immediately, she will relocate to Los Angeles from New York this summer.
Sweden-based label A-P Records rebranded to Overtone Studios and named producer/songwriter Rami Yacoub as director of music development, North America. Based in Los Angeles, he’ll help spearhead the company’s international expansion.
Adam Sachs was named senior vp of entertainment, comedy and podcasts programming at SiriusXM. The executive first joined the satellite broadcaster following its acquisition of Team Coco, where he served as president.
First Artists Management hired Zoe Hart as agent in its London office and promoted Hailey Flame to agent in Los Angeles. Hart, who joins from Faber Music, can be reached at ZHart@firstartistsmgmt.com. Flame can be reached at Hflame@firstartistsmgmt.com.
Nigel Elderton was named chairman at music technology company Audoo, which is focused on improving accuracy, transparency and reporting in public performance royalty data collection and payment distribution.
SoundCloud named Eliah Seton as its new CEO, the company announced today (March 9). Seton, who has served as president of the company since 2021, replaces Michael Weissman, who is leaving the company “for a new opportunity,” according to a press release.
Simultaneously, the company announced that Union Square Ventures founder Fred Wilson has been named chairman of the board. Wilson, who has been on the board at SoundCloud since 2011, replaces company founder and former CEO Alexander Ljung, who will be taking a new role as chairman emeritus and remain a member of the board.
“As the only platform with direct relationships with artists and fans at scale, SoundCloud has a singular opportunity to forge the future of the music industry by unlocking the full power of fandom,” Seton said in a statement. “I am grateful to Mike for our partnership, to Fred and the board for their confidence and thrilled to work alongside our incredible leadership team to realize that vision.”
Seton joined SoundCloud from the Warner Music Group, where he spent a number of years first working for former WMG CEO Stephen Cooper, then as senior vp of strategy and operations for Warner International, before moving to ADA, eventually being named president of independent music and creator services for the major label. He moved to SoundCloud in 2021 during a shakeup of the company, during which Weissman moved into the CEO role and SoundCloud began an evolution from an indie-focused streaming service towards a hybrid organization that now offers label and artist services, as well as distribution, audience insights and a growing roster of artists and partnerships.
During that period, SoundCloud also rolled out a fan-powered royalties initiative, which switched up how independent creators got paid on the platform, and Seton led the deal that brought Warner Music artists into the fan-powered royalties fold. In August, the company laid off 20% of its global staff while it pursued a different strategy amid the advertising-affected market, though in December it announced its revenue grew 19% in 2021, according to financial statements published in Germany. In the past year, SoundCloud has inked joint ventures with Quality Control’s management wing Solid Foundation and Atlanta-based management and services company Third & Hayden, and partnered with artists such as Lil Pump, Tekno and Aly & AJ, among others.
Wilson replaces Ljung as chairman, who originally founded the company and was its CEO from 2007 to 2017, at which time Kerry Trainor took over as CEO and Weissman as COO. According to a press release, Ljung will “remain closely engaged and available to the company’s management team and employees going forward.”
“I have served on SoundCloud’s board for more than a decade and can honestly say that I have never been more excited about the direction and leadership of the company,” Wilson said in a statement. “Eliah’s passion for the business of music, relationships and vision are exactly what is needed for the next phase of SoundCloud’s growth. On behalf of the board, I want to thank Mike for his leadership, dedication and partnership over the past several years and welcome Eliah to this new role.”
Silvio Pietroluongo has been promoted to executive vp of charts & data partnerships at Billboard, it was announced Tuesday (Mar. 7).
The New York-based Pietroluongo, who was previously senior vp of charts & data development, is a 30-year veteran of the brand who has led Billboard‘s chart operation since 2008. In his new role, he will recruit new data partners for chart inclusion while collaborating closely with various departments within Billboard and PMC to create content and further business initiatives for the Billboard brand domestically and across the globe.
“Silvio’s contributions to Billboard and its charts is undeniable. Throughout the years, Silvio has been an exceptional operational leader among us and someone whose passion, commitment, and relationships shapes our daily team culture,” said Billboard president Mike Van in a statement on Pietroluongo’s promotion. “We are beyond thrilled to be able to recognize him and honor his commitment to making the ‘Billboard Charts’ what they are today.”
Under Pietroluongo’s leadership, the Billboard charts have evolved to reflect the ever-evolving digital and social media age, optimizing the comprehensive data sets that accurately and definitively measure success in music. During his tenure, Billboard’s charts were the first globally to include audio and video streams to measure song and album consumption. More recently, Billboard launched the Billboard Global 200 and Billboard Excl. U.S. charts to measure worldwide song popularity as well as expanded its menu of international song ranking under the Hits of the World banner to over 40 territories.
Pietroluongo started his Billboard career as an intern and moved up the ranks from there, serving in various leadership roles including research supervisor. He was promoted to associate director of charts in 2006, director of charts in 2008, vp of charts & data development in 2014 and senior vp of charts & data development in 2018.
Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG) appointed Shirin Foroutan as senior vp and GM of Universal Music Publishing Europe, succeeding Simon Baker — who will continue in a senior management capacity at the company — in the role. Based in London, Foroutan will work closely with the company’s European managing directors as well as C-suite leadership in Santa Monica while reporting to UMPG COO Marc Cimino. She was previously vp of creative at BMI.
Downtown Music Holdings promoted Manan Vohra to chief technology officer, Harmen Hemminga to vp of product and services strategy and Gareth Mellor to vp of global marketing and communications. The Amsterdam-based Vohra was previously chief technology officer at Downtown subsidiary FUGA but will now lead product and technology strategy for the parent company. Also based in Amsterdam, Hemminga’s new role is an elevation from his previous role of head of partnerships and strategic projects at FUGA. In his new position, he will be responsible for identifying and creating strategic product, services and business tracks within the Downtown Music vertical. Mellor’s previous role was also based at FUGA, where he worked as global head of B2B. He will now oversee the marketing efforts for Downtown’s portfolio of businesses.
Decentralized music community and discovery platform Audius named Shamal Ranasinghe chief business officer, a newly created role. Ranasinghe will oversee the company’s relationships with the music industry, taking the lead in developing new innovations as well as reporting, analytics and other tools to empower artists, labels and rightsholders. He arrives at Audius from SiriusXM/Pandora, where he served as vp of product management, catalog and creators. He has been an advisor to Audius since 2018.
Wasserman Music promoted seven members of its global team to agents. They include responsible agents Eli Gelernter, Logan Handelsman, Lindsay McDowell and Yitzi Peetluk; fairs & festivals agent Jess Bumsted; and tour marketers Mary Kate Carragher and Kaela Ismael. Elsewhere, Sara Pullman was elevated to vp of operations and Chappel McCollister was upped to senior vp of business development. Gelernter can be reached at egelernter@teamwass.com, Handelsman can be reached at lhandelsman@teamwass.com, McDowell can be reached at lmcdowell@teamwass.com, Peetluk can be reached at ypeetluk@teamwass.com, Bumsted can be reached at jess.bumsted@teamwass.com, Carragher can be reached at mcarragher@teamwass.com, Ismael can be reached at kismael@teamwass.com, Pullman can be reached at spullman@teamwass.com and McCollister can be reached at cmccollister@teamwass.com.
Prescription Songs/Amigo Records GM Ashlee Gibbs was promoted, adding director of operations to her title. In her expanded role, Gibbs will oversee administration of the company’s offices in Los Angeles and Nashville. She can be reached at ashlee@prescriptionsongs.com.
The Syndicate promoted Amy Tremmel to senior vp of marketing & events, Brendan Bourke to vp of publicity and Joe McGinnis to vp of radio promotion. Tremmel can be reached at amy@thesyn.com, Bourke can be reached at brendan@thesyn.com and McGinnis can be reached at joe@thesyn.com. All three work out of the company’s Weehawken, New Jersey office.
Mayowa Arogundade was named creative director at multidisciplinary media company EVGLE, which houses a record label, production company, clothing brand, publishing division and investment arm. In the role, Arogundade will lead EVGLE’s big-picture initiatives, creating a strategy and brand imprint for the company. He has worked with Roc Nation, Red Bull Records, OVO Sound, Kelly Rowland, Saweetie and more. Arogundade can be reached at mayowa.a@evglemusic.com.
Warner Music Nashville promoted Brianna “Bri” Small to director of digital content strategy & partnerships, a newly created role spanning the interactive, publicity and business development departments. Claire Russo was promoted from coordinator of interactive marketing to fill Small’s previous role of manager of interactive marketing.
Music and technology company Too Lost opened a Hollywood office to better serve its expanding client base on the West Coast and hired Aldo Davalos to serve as the company’s new head of business development. Davalos, formerly the head of A&R at Dim Mak Records and Publishing, was most recently on Migos‘ management team. Elsewhere, former Create Music Group executive Dan Mody was named head of A&R and Courtney Young (Create Music Group, Dim Mak Records) has been named head of label services; both will work out of the Hollywood office. Additionally, Too Lost hired Conner Davis to serve on its leadership team out of the company’s New York City headquarters. Davis was previously at beatBread and Universal Music Group.
Nick Barrie was hired as talent buyer at The Bellwether, a 1,600-capacity venue from Another Planet Entertainment and Michael Swier of Teragram Presents that’s slated to open in Downtown Los Angeles this spring. Barrie will lead a team charged with bringing a variety of music and entertainment to the venue, described as a music room, private event space and restaurant/bar. He’s worked for Another Planet since 2005 when he was hired as a security guard at the company’s San Francisco venue The Independent. Barrie can be reached at Nick@thebellwetherla.com.
Independent publisher Minds on Fire hired Tom Currie as A&R manager. Based in London, Currie will sign new talent and bring creative and promotional opportunities to the company’s existing songwriter roster. He was most recently head of DJ promotions at music promotions company Your Army. Currie can be reached at Tom@mindsonfire.co.uk.