Sphere
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Surely many Deadheads took in multiple performances of Dead & Company’s 30-date residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere this past spring and summer. It’s unlikely, however, that many of them saw more than Bernie Cahill.
Cahill — who, as a partner at Activist Artists Management, co-manages Dead & Company with Irving Azoff and Steve Moir — caught 20 Dead Forever shows at the fantastical, $2.3 billion venue, with his box suite perch offering impeccable views of the band as it seemed to lift off from the Grateful Dead’s former house in San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury district and hurtle into deep space.
“This definitely was a work in progress,” Cahill tells Billboard. “We were adding new content as late as the final weekend. We feel like we had made a commitment to the fans that we would continue to evolve the show and deliver, and we did.“
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The run made Dead & Company the third group to play Sphere after U2 opened the venue last September and Phish put on a three-night run of shows this past April. Dead Forever grossed $121.5 million and sold 429,000 tickets over 27 shows from May 16-Aug. 3, according to numbers reported to Billboard Boxscore.
Here, Cahill talks about helping break in the cutting-edge venue, bringing Deadheads to Vegas and why, if asked, they’d likely do it all over again.
Was there a sense of learning as the residency went on, and if so, what were those lessons?
Getting in that room and dealing with the audio and some of the basics of not having amplified sound on stage, you learn a lot. Obviously, Irving had just gone through it with U2, so we definitely had a leg up and were lucky that U2 shared so much institutional knowledge with us.
But still, until you get in that room, you just don’t know what you’re in for, so it was a constant evolution. Every single night we were learning things about the room, the audio, the content. Sometimes we would see new content that we would have, and it would just pop and be remarkable, and other times it didn’t always work exactly as it was envisioned. That’s just part of the process of this new medium and new canvas.
I imagine by the end, you have this performance that feels really fully formed, because you’ve developed it over the course of all these shows.
I feel like the guys were inspired as well. They found a new gear at the Sphere. Maybe part of it is the residency, part of it is the challenge of doing something new. I think that was huge for them. You’ve been doing this for particularly as long as Bob [Weir] and Mickey [Hart] have, and I think they were really fired up about the challenge of it. They leaned into all parts of it without ever losing sight of the songs. They were just knocking it out of the park. After the final tour, I didn’t think the band could get much tighter and better, and they pulled it off.
Do you feel they were leveling up because they had to compete with this fantastical thing they were in?
Yes, there’s some of that. But also, they were looking for ways to make this a complimentary integration of their visual storytelling and their music. With this immersive experience happening around you when you’re on that stage, I think they probably felt — and it shows — that they needed to deliver it at another level musically, and they did. I think the room invites that.
Were there unforeseen challenges that came up over the course of the residency?
Lots. [Laughs] I think some of the bigger ones were just things Derek Featherstone, our tour director and front-of-house engineer, had to manage, which was we had less rehearsal than we probably would have liked. When we’re loading in after they show the [Darren] Aronofsky movie [during the daytime], for instance, and we can’t do a full tech run-through of new content, that can be scary and flying without a net a bit. But I think what we see in our granular understanding of the show and then the fan experience, I don’t think they felt any of that stress or worry.
Were you finding that fans were going again and again, or was it more of a one-off experience for people?
Definitely repeat. There were so many repeats, and I think people were really gratified that they were doing more than just a show or more than just one weekend. We had people that saw shows every weekend. Most people saw at least two or three shows. That’s kind of the magic of this band and this community. They know that at a minimum, Bob and John [Mayer] are going tell a story over the weekend and they’re not going to repeat any songs. That story would unfold Thursday, Friday, Saturday, almost like a three-act play. That really appealed to our community.
Having done this, what advice would you give to a manager whose group is about to play the Sphere?
Well, for one thing, learn as much as you can from folks like U2 and Dead & Co. and Phish that have done it. We’re an open book, we’ll share whatever we can. We made mistakes, and we learned a lot, and we’re happy to share that with other artists that are coming after us.
Being a band that has always had visuals as a prominent part of the storytelling helped us a lot. It was very natural for us to explore that and go much deeper at the Sphere. I think bands that come after us who have those visual elements as a part their story and their brand will have an easier time creating their show. I would just advise to get started as soon as you can and don’t stop pushing the margin, either. Keep going with it and keep exploring and experimenting throughout your run.
The venue also really makes sense for a band with such a long a rich history, because the show so effectively leaned into that visually. Obviously, that’s not something a newer act can really do.
True. We have this very rich palette to draw from, and it really clicked in this venue. Yes, there were the crazy moments when it felt very 3D and hurtling through space. Then there were the analog moments and, I think, important emotional moments where the band was just connecting, whether it was Bob playing while standing on the moon and the ballads that just brought everybody to a whisper. I guess the other advice would be to strike that balance of those emotional, analog-feeling moments and then playing with the technology and how big you can go.
It was touching, thinking about the life of Bob Weir and where he and Mickey are coming from and now, they’re effectively playing in a spaceship.
Yeah, exactly. But by the way, it’s very Bob Weir if you know him. He loves technology. They’re all really technophiles. They love it. I think they love anything that allows them to go deeper with their storytelling and their exploration of this music. That is a gift to these artists, and I think is a big part of why the Sphere worked so well and was such a success.
Would they try it again?
When asked in interviews they’ve done since, I think they’ve all said they would definitely entertain an invite and would love to come back and do some things. Bob wants to really lean into this idea of being able to affect the visuals in real time and synching them more with the music itself.
But there were already some interesting things happening in that room that I don’t know if people even realized. [One night] there was a full moon outside, and we beamed the actual live full moon into the Sphere. That wasn’t video. That was a Weir idea.
If you were to do another residency, is there anything you would change?
Jim Dolan, you have to give him so much credit. He nailed it with this venue, which is impeccable in almost every way, from the backstage where we all spent most of our time, to front of house. Maybe [it would be] having a bit more time to rehearse, more tech rehearsal, just getting comfortable in the Sphere, because it’s one of one. It’s the only one in the world.
After hosting residencies by Dead & Company and Phish, Sphere Entertainment Co. closed out its fiscal year ended June 30 with revenue of $273.4 million and a net loss of $46.6 million in the fourth quarter.
For full-year revenue, the company posted a $201-million net loss on revenue of $1.03 billion. That’s nearly double the $573.8 million revenue number in the prior year, when the Sphere venue in Las Vegas had revenue of just $2.6 million after launching late in 2023.
Following the earnings release, shares of Sphere Entertainment jumped 9.3% to $44.55 on Wednesday (Aug. 14).
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The MSG Networks division had quarterly revenue of $122.2 million, down 6.2% from the prior-year period, and annual revenue of $529.7 million, a 7% decline. MSG Networks operates two TV sports networks, MSG Network and MSG Sportsnet, and the MSG+ streaming platform.
The eye-grabbing $2.3-billion Sphere venue in Las Vegas reported revenue of $151.2 million in the latest quarter. Events such as concerts and corporate events accounted for revenue of $58.4 million. The Sphere Experience, an interactive experience combined with a showing of the film Postcard from Earth, had revenue of $74.5 million from 208 performances.
Sphere generated revenue of $489.4 million in its first three full quarters of operation. Though U2 opened its 40-date run at the end of the first fiscal quarter, the bulk of the concerts occurred in the second and third quarters. Four dates by Phish in April were followed by Dead & Co.’s 30-date residency that concluded Aug. 10.
With state-of-the-art visuals and audio, as well as the capacity to host multiple types of events, Sphere “has the potential to change the entertainment landscape for artists, guests and partners,” CEO James Dolan said during Wednesday’s earnings call. “Fully realizing that vision will take time, but we are learning every day how to optimize Sphere’s operating model.”
While its concerts have generated worldwide media attention and exposure on social media, Sphere’s financial potential depends on maximizing its utilization beyond that of a traditional venue. To that end, Dolan said the company is “making progress” toward its goal of hosting multiple events in a single day. The Sphere Experience, which includes the 50-minute film Postcard from Earth, ran on the same days as Dead & Company’s shows in July and August.
Sphere is also branching out into different types of events that take advantage of its Las Vegas location and an ability to offer dazzling visual displays on its 160,000-square-foot video screen. In June, the venue hosted its first corporate keynote event with Hewlett Packard Enterprise as well as the NHL Draft.
The content category, which includes Postcard from Earth, is another aspect of maximizing Sphere’s usage. Content generated more than $1 million in average daily ticket sales in the latest quarter, according to Dolan, and has earned more than $300 million in “high margin” revenue since debuting in October 2023.
“We are actively developing new cinematic experiences and expect to launch our next attraction in the coming weeks,” said Dolan. “We believe this expanding content library will benefit our Las Vegas business and strengthen our value proposition to new markets.”
The Eagles begin a 20-date residency at Sphere in September while Anyma will give the venue its first EDM shows in late December. Also in September, Sphere will host its first live sports event, UFC 306.
With its 30-show Dead Forever residency at Las Vegas’ Sphere, Dead & Company has written another entry in the Grateful Dead’s 60-year legacy of live music reinvention. Beginning in late May, the band – comprised of founding Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart, alongside John Mayer, Oteil Burbridge, Jeff Chimenti and Jay Lane – has delivered a series of three-night runs, each without song repeats and featuring a rotating carousel of visuals ranging from diaristic photo collages to abstract technicolor animations.
For Dead Forever, which wraps this weekend with three shows Aug. 8-10, the jam band turned to Treatment Studio, the agency that has handled creative for Dead & Company and Mayer solo tours alike. Co-founded by Willie Williams and Sam Pattinson in 2009, Treatment had another critical qualification: It also spearheaded U2:UV Achtung Baby Live, the 40-date residency that opened the venue last fall.
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“It is very sweet how so many of the principles of the U2 show have become kind of boilerplate for all shows in there, because that’s what works,” says Williams, who as U2’s creative director has been responsible for the band’s tours dating back to the ’80s, including its groundbreaking “Zoo TV” outing in the early ’90s. (In fact, Treatment’s connection to Sphere predates even U2’s residency: When the venue was still just a concept, the agency created a promotional video about it to circulate among touring professionals, and Treatment consulted about how touring shows might adapt themselves for Sphere.)
But even given its familiarity with the cutting-edge venue and rapport with the third artist to perform there (Treatment wasn’t involved in April’s four-show Phish run between U2 and Dead & Company), Dead Forever still proved daunting. “They play different versions of songs, different durations, the setlist is always different, and they wanted the visual aspect of the show to vary as well,” says Pattinson, who served as Dead Forever creative director alongside Mayer. Deadheads, he adds, will see multiple shows, so the band “wanted to see variety between the three, so there was a new offering every night.”
Dead & Company at Sphere
Chloe Weir
Treatment began ideating Dead Forever with Dead & Company last November, and according to Pattinson, Mayer took the creative reins. “The whole concept came from John,” he explains of the show, which begins and ends at the Dead’s late-’60s home on 710 Ashbury Street in San Francisco and, in between, transports audiences to distant psychedelic realms as well as historic venues from the band’s past. “The show you see today is the show that he outlined in November; it was a very strong concept.”
Such a strong concept, it turns out, that Dead Forever was still adding to its robust stable of visuals –which already included core pieces like the San Francisco liftoff and touchdown, created by famed Bay Area agency Industrial Light & Magic, and a pastoral, paint-by-numbers world designed by London company Art & Graft – as late in the residency as its penultimate weekend.
Treatment isn’t involved in Sphere’s two upcoming music bookings, Eagles (starting Sept. 20) and Anyma (starting Dec. 27), and the firm has its hands full with other projects far from Sin City; when Billboard connected with Williams and Pattinson, the latter was in Munich, putting the final touches on Adele in Munich just hours before the singer’s German residency kicked off. But, Pattinson says, Treatment would “absolutely” like to return to the space in the future. “You really want to work with a band that, like U2 or Dead & Co., really sort of begins to understand the space, or are open to understanding and learning about the space and what that means for them and their performance,” he says. “Someone who’s got a lot of time to put into it.”
Dead & Company at Sphere
Chloe Weir
What was your reaction when U2 first approached you about its Sphere residency?
Willie Williams: Many things about it, initially, I was either suspicious of or wasn’t very excited about. Bono particularly was leading the charge; we talk a lot and part of his point was, “Look, what else are we going to do? Are we gonna go out and reinvent stadium rock again?” When you’ve got not only a new venue, but a completely new kind of venue, surely, if you’re going to try and put music in there, the people that need to do it are the people that have been blazing that trail for 30 years. The journey was extraordinarily uphill. Because, of course, the building didn’t exist when we were conceiving the show. So not only did we have to conceive the show, we had to conceive the building as well – I had to imagine what the building would be like. It was a long journey, but we had time. We’ll be the only people who had the luxury of having several months in the building prior to the first show. But we really were making it up as we went along.
Based on your experience with U2, what are the guiding principles for a successful Sphere show?
Williams: The big takeaway, for me, was understanding that Sphere is a three-dimensional audio-visual space, and what works in there are the kind of visual things you would make for VR rather than for cinema. It sounds so stupid, but the fact that there are no corners really was a revelation. And for me, when I started playing with very simple graphic things, I realized that your brain has no sense of where the visual plane is. And not only are there no corners, but we could introduce virtual corners and shapes of our own and your brain absolutely buys it – I was really shocked at the degree to which your brain buys the environment that you’re in.
Dead & Company at Sphere
ALIVECOVERAGE
Sam, in a nutshell, how would you describe the concept that Mayer brought to you?
Sam Pattinson: John’s overall concept was a perfect framework for the culture of the band and their history. And it was this idea of “We start in a sort of historically relevant place, and then we could start this journey. And we use a series of portals that transport to different worlds and environments and scenes and animations and bits and bobs.” It’s a very flexible structure that we could change. Because every show, we get the setlist the night before, and we have to rebuild the show to the new setlist. So obviously it needs to be versatile – which it is.
What challenges did switching the show up night to night present? And did you see that as an opportunity?
Pattinson: Absolutely – it was great. I mean, it was added work and stress at times. The initial commission from the band was they wanted us to produce 30% to 40% more content than we needed for a show; obviously, the shows are three hours long. To date, we’ve made almost six hours worth of content. We had lots of choices, and very strong pieces within that. So actually, it wasn’t difficult to refresh the show every night – it was quite good fun.
The show begins and ends in San Francisco, but in between goes to both the cosmos and important venues from the Dead’s history, like Radio City Music Hall and Cornell University’s Barton Hall. Was balancing those elements difficult?
Pattinson: We had to nod to the big moments in their career and venues and so on, and the characters and their graphics, and all those things that the fans are familiar with. But [the band has] always been open-minded and they’ve always tried new stuff. That was very much the case in Vegas. They were open to content that we thought probably wasn’t right for them [and] was probably for more of a contemporary band, perhaps, or a younger band. So actually, combining some of their historic content with the more abstract and more contemporary stuff was quite an easy balance to strike.
Dead & Company at Sphere
Chloe Weir
What advice would you have for an artist considering playing Sphere?
Williams: To have a lot more time and a lot more money than you could possibly imagine you’d need. My takeaway is imagine you’re making material for VR but without a headset. That’s how you get the real magic out of the space, rather than it just being big, big films. I’ve had artists ask, “How many nights would I have to do at the Sphere to make it break even?” and “What sort of budget would I have to have?” Those questions just can’t be answered really, because there are just so many other factors involved. [But] it would have to be a residency and you’d have to look at the whole thing in a very overall sense.
Even beyond Sphere, stadium and arena shows are becoming more complex and immersive. Do you think that’s becoming more important for fans as they choose which artists to see in concert?
Williams: I think the only thing the audience cares about is making an emotional connection with the performer. And if the technology can assist that, then great. And if not, I don’t think they care at all. The intrusiveness of big visuals is a really, really delicate balance. I’ve always admired U2 for having the confidence to understand that it’s OK to let go of being the center of attention for a moment – something very big and visual is going to happen, and everyone’s going to look at it. And it cost a fortune, so they better look at it! And at that moment, they’re not going to be looking at you, but that’s OK, because they’ll get back to you. It’s a brave performer that has that much confidence.
Italian producer Anyma has today (July 23) announced selling out all six of his upcoming Sphere shows, for a total of 100,000 tickets sold. Tickets went on sale earlier today, with a pre-sale event happening yesterday. The first show of the run, on New Year’s Eve, was announced just last week, with five additional dates […]
Two days after the announcement that Anyma will be the first electronic music act to play Sphere in Las Vegas, the artist and venue have added two additional shows to the run.
In addition to the previously announced December 31 show, Anyma will now also play Sphere on December 29-30. Ticket prices for the new events will be the same as the NYE show, with the general on sale starting July 23 and a presale happening on July 22.
The expansion of this Sphere run is being credited to “overwhelming demand” by the show’s promoter, Live Nation. Given that the concert’s production elements are custom made for the tech forward venue, more dates also likely increases ROI for involved parties.
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Anyma, whose sound is focused on melodic techno, is made up of Italian producer Matteo Milleri, who is also one half of the electronic duo Tale of Us. The Sphere performance will find Anyma bringing his Genesys show to Las Vegas, marking the final times this show will be performed. The performance is officially titled Afterlife Presents Anyma: The End of Genesys and will feature yet to be announced special guests.
Named for Anyma’s 2023 debut album, Genesys and its 2024 followup Genesys II, the Genesys show has been performed for tens of thousands of people at venues in Asia, Europe, South America and beyond. The albums, like the corresponding visual performance, explore themes of technology, nature, humanity and coexistence. Afterlife is the label founded by Tale Of Us in 2016. Both Tale Of Us and Anyma have gained global renown for their visuals-focused production, which explores topics like evolution and consciousness.
Featuring lineups lead by Tale Of US, both Afterlife showcases at the Los Angeles State Historic Park last October were sold out. Last summer, Afterlife partnered with Interscope Records for a deal under which Interscope will distribute all Afterlife releases, including all past and future recordings.
While Las Vegas is a longstanding U.S. electronic music hub, since opening in September of 2023, Sphere has not, until now, featured the genre, instead focusing on rock with venue openers U2, along with jam bands via residencies from Phish and Dead & Company. Classic rock will also move into the venue this fall with a residency from the Eagles.
In May, Sphere’s parent company, Sphere Entertainment Co, reported that the venue generated revenue of $170.4 million in its fiscal third quarter ending March 31. Opened to much fanfare last September, the venue cost $2.3 billion to build.
James Dolan will continue his run as Sphere Entertainment Co.’s executive chairman/CEO for another three years. Sphere Entertainment gave Dolan a three-year contract extension that runs from July 1 to June 30, 2027, according to a July 3 regulatory filing. Sphere Entertainment consists of Sphere, the groundbreaking, $2.3-billion venue in Las Vegas; MSG Networks, which […]
Billionaire hedge fund titan Steve Cohen‘s Point72 Asset Management has acquired a 5.5% stake in Sphere Entertainment Co, the MSG Entertainment spin-off company that owns the state-of-the-art Las Vegas Sphere venue. Point72 disclosed in a regulatory filing on Monday (June 24) that it acquired 1.56 million shares of Sphere Entertainment Co in the second quarter, […]
James Dolan, executive chairman/CEO of MSG Entertainment, will lead the New York-based live events company for another three years. Dolan received a new contract that will keep him at MSG Entertainment through June 2027, the company revealed on Friday (June 21) in a regulatory filing. Dolan, who is also the CEO of both MSG Sports […]
It’s time for another spin around the Executive Turntable, Billboard’s comprehensive(ish) compendium of promotions, hirings, exits and firings — and all things in between — across music. Don’t forget to dig into this year’s Indie Power Players list. We also have a weekly interview series spotlighting a single executive and a regularly updated gallery honoring many of the industry figures we’ve lost throughout the year.
Sphere Entertainment has turned to Hollywood studio veteran Carolyn Blackwood as its new head of Sphere Studios, which develops and produces the “multi-sensory entertainment experiences” for concerts, corporate events and more at the next-generation spherical wonder. At Sphere, Blackwood will lead a team of creative, production and other various wizards responsible for those immersive experiences, plus work closely with MSG Ventures on developing the production technologies needed to create them. Blackwood has more than 25 years of studio experience, and was most recently chief operating officer at Warner Bros. Pictures. Prior to WB, she spent 20-plus years at New Line Cinema, where she rose to president and chief content officer. Between those two studios, she was integrally involved with some of the biggest films of the last quarter-century, including The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Barbie and The Conjuring franchise.
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“Throughout my career, I have focused on creative and business innovation in the entertainment industry, as well as the pursuit of production excellence, and this is a tremendous opportunity to be part of the cutting-edge work at Sphere,” said Blackwood. Sphere’s newly elevated president and COO Jennifer Koester added that she believe’s Blackwood’s “expertise bringing high-profile entertainment projects to life will be an asset as we continue to build on, and grow, the Studios’ capabilities.”
The creative team at Sphere also includes chief creative officer Ned McNeilage, who joined earlier this year. Since opening last year with a successful run of U2 shows, the Las Vegas megavenue has been in a jam-y mood with a four concert mini-residency by Phish and an in-progress 24-date residency by Dead & Company. An eight-date run by Eagles is scheduled for the fall.
Meanwhile…
Universal Music India and South Asia promoted Viral Jani to chief revenue officer. Jani joined UMGISA in 2023 as head of digital, strategy & transformation, having previously held senior positions at Times Network, GroupM and Twitter, among others. The promotion follows the May elevation of Sanujeet Bhujabal from evp of content to managing director of the Mumbai-based label division. “[The promotions of Bhujabal and Jani] reflects the company’s commitment to growth and development of one of Universal Music Group’s most important emerging markets,” noted Adam Granite, CEO, Universal Music Group AMEA. “Together they will work closely, alongside Chairman & CEO Devraj Sanyal and myself, to deliver our mission of creating the best music-based entertainment company in the region.”
Warner Chappell Music promoted A&R exec Jessi Vaughn Stevenson to vp, A&R and digital. Stevenson will continue reporting to Ben Vaughn, president/CEO WCM Nashville, as she strategizes opportunities for songwriters. During her career, Stevenson has worked with songwriters including Jessi Alexander, Rhett Akins, Parker McCollum, Hailey Whitters, Morgan Wallen and Randy Montana. “Jessi has always shown commitment to songwriters, helping them with their craft and careers,” said Vaughn. “She is always thinking of new ways to support songwriters and is a wonderful team player. We’re happy to announce her promotion.” –Jessica Nicholson
APM Music elevated creative executive Adam Weitz from senior director to vp of TV and film sync. Weitz has spent the bulk of his 16-year sync licensing career — roughly 11-and-a-half years — at APM, a production music joint venture between Universal Music Publishing Group and Sony Music Publishing. During that time he and his TV/Film team has banked large-scale licensing deals with Hollywood studios, streaming platforms and others, and locked in placements with hundreds of films and shows, including recent wins in Oppenheimer, Succession, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Ted Lasso and more. He also spearheads APM’s sample clearance business, which has collaborated with Drake, Beck, The Black Keys and others. Weitz reports to chief revenue officer Chad Elbert and president Adam Taylor, who remarked, “His deep industry connections and unique blend of creative and licensing expertise have established him as one of the very best in the industry.” Prior to joining APM in 2013, the Los Angeles-based exec spent nearly five years in leadership at sync licensing house Visions from the Roof. Under the pseudonym Phofo, Weitz composed music for several animated shows including Sushi Pack, Care Bears and Club Penguin, and he co-produced the first studio LP by MC Paul Barman. Reach him at aweitz@apmmusic.com.
BOARD SHORTS: Furnace Record Pressing founder and former CEO Eric Astor was elected to the Vinyl Record Manufacturing Association‘s board of directors. VRMA works to advance the record manufacturing sector — in which Astor has been deeply invested since FRP’s 1996 founding. He recently transitioned to an advisor role at the Metallica-backed Virginia plant, with Ali Miller taking over as CEO in March … OpenAI (ChatGPT) appointed Paul M. Nakasone, the former head of the National Security Agency (NSA), to its board of directors.
BMG appointed Alexandra Behrens as senior vp of global people excellence, a most excellent way of saying she’ll oversee HR services and operations across the company. Behrens is sliding over from Bertelsmann sister company Gruner + Jahr (G+J), where she led the people management & services team during a 15-year run at the print publishing giant. “Alexandra’s leadership will be instrumental in driving our global HR initiatives and fostering a culture of excellence across all of our locations,” said BMG CHRO Nikola Holle-Spiegel, to whom she’ll report. BMG recently announced a fine-tuning of its frontline recordings business under Jon Loba.
Digital Media Association (DiMA) promoted Sally Rose Larson to senior vp of government and external affairs. Prior to joining DiMA in 2019 as the audio streaming trade group’s vp of government relations, the Georgia native served as legislative director and later deputy chief of staff to Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), and was chief copyright advisor to House Judiciary Committee GOPers.
Reed Smith welcomed Jackson Abbeduto as counsel in its global entertainment and media industry group. Based in the lauded law firm‘s Century City, Calif. office, Abbeduto arrives following a year as counsel at Granderson Des Rochers. Prior to that, he spent nearly a decade at Universal Music Publishing Group and three years at YouTube as an executive. “Music is very important to our overall practice strategy, and considering our partner Gregor Pryor is the leading digital music lawyer in Europe, Jackson will have all the resources necessary to help us be on the forefront of advising clients in the US on all cutting-edge digital issues,” said Stephen Sessa, the co-chair of Reed Smith’s global entertainment and media industry group.
RADIO, RADIO: Cumulus Media promoted Kriston Aitken to chief human resources officer, taking over for a retiring Todd McCarty, who held the role for nine years. The HR veteran joined Cumulus in 2016 and was elevated to vp of Human Resources two years ago … Jose George and Olivia Morley joined advertising consulting firm Madison and Wall as senior analysts, according to Radio Ink … Samantha Melbourneweaver is joining NPR as managing editor/digital audience growth & engagement. She was previously the assistant managing editor of audience at the Los Angeles Times.
CAA promoted 15 employees, including Shayna Ehrlich to music marketing executive in the agency’s music touring department. She joined the firm in March 2019 as a music and comedy tour marketing assistant and later shed the laughs part of her workload. Prior to joining CAA, the NYC-based Ehrlich was in media strategy at iHeartMedia. THR has more details on the moves.
Hollywood-based publicist and former TV programmer Kiki Ayers launched My Best Kid Life, a new “daily guide on how parents and kids can live their best life” that will focus on wellness, nutrition, co-parenting and more, plus feature exclusive interviews with celebs discussing parenthood. Unique to MBKL is that all images used for the company are in the style of comic book, cartoon or anime. Pryor to this new venture, Ayers ran her PR firm Ayers Publicity and worked as an entertainment reporter. Earlier in her career, Ayers was a music programming manager at REVOLT and was in production at both MTV2 and The Jerry Springer Show.
ICYMI:
Richard Burgess
A2IM president and CEO Richard James Burgess telegraphed his exit from the indie label trade group … UTA hired ex-Ingrooves chief Bob Roback as COO … Downtown named Molly Neuman as president of its CD Baby arm … Jennifer Koester was promoted to president and COO of Sphere Entertainment … UnitedMasters hired Def Jam vet LaTrice Burnette as evp and head of music … and COLTURE‘s Ty Baisden was named executive of the year in Billboard‘s Indie Power Players list.
Last Week’s Turntable: TikTok Lawyers Up
Las Vegas’ Sphere has its next occupant lined up. The mind-bending venue announced on Thursday (June 13) that Rock and Roll Hall of Famers the Eagles will swoop into town in the fall for eight residency shows over four weekends. The gigs will kick off on Sept. 20 and run through Oct. 19, with a […]