April has been a pretty busy month in the music industry. Who got hired, fired, promoted, and retired?
First Access Entertainment named former Ultra Records A&R Director Oscar Scivier as its new Vice President of A&R. In his new role, he’ll work out of the company’s New York and Los Angeles offices. He’ll help develop music releases and sign new talent.
Sony Music Nashville promoted Jim Catino to Senior VP or A&R. The 22-year music industry veteran first joined the label in October 2001. He’ll continue reporting directly to Sony Music Nashville Chairman and CEO Randy Goodman.
VP of Promotion and music industry veteran John Butler has resigned his post at Curb Records. He joined Spotify as Head of Christian Music on April 24. Based out of Nashville, he’ll oversee Christian music globally for Spotify through playlist curation, programming, and written editorial. He’ll report to Spotify’s Senior Director of North America of Shows & Editorial Doug Ford.
Sony/ATV Music Publishing has promoted longtime executive Guy Henderson to President of International. His top priority will be to spearhead significant digital expansion across developed and developing territories. Henderson will work out of the company’s London office.
Warner/Chappell Production Music boss Randy Wachtler will leave the company, according to sources. Warner/Chappell CEO and Chairman Jon Platt will oversee Production Music operations until they name a replacement. Wachtler’s exit follows other top-level changes, including Mike Smith’s recent appointment as Managing Director and Paul Kahn’s hiring as CFO.
Sony Music Entertainment named 25-year veteran Carmine Coppola as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. He filled the position left vacant after the company named Kevin Kelleher as Chief Operating Officer. Coppola will report to Kelleher. He previously worked as Global Controller and Executive Vice President of Global Finance.
Richard Constant will retire from UMG this summer. He started in 1980 as part of PolyGram’s legal department. Seagram acquired PolyGram and then merged into Universal Music Group. Constant was a key figure during the 2014 acquisition of Eagle Rock Entertainment, and the $1.9bn 2012 buyout of EMI Music.
Eric Reithler, former SFX Entertainment Vice President, has joined leading EDM promoter A2LiVE as Managing Director and Chief Commercial Officer. He’ll head a variety of department teams to assist in driving Asian expansion and development of the Shangai-based entertainment company.
Rostrum Records named Nicole Plantin Vice President of A&R. She previously worked as Director of Writer Publishing relations at BMI. She helped sign talent such as Jhene Aiko, Internet, Schoolboy Q, Odd Future, Dreezy and Joey Bada$$.
The Digital Media Association (DiMA) named former Pandora and Sirius exec Chris Harrison as CEO. In 2015, Harrison left his position as Pandora’s VP of Business Affairs and Assistant Counsel. He also worked at SiriusXM as VP of Music Business Affairs. At DiMA, Harrison will oversee their public policy initiatives and strategic direction. He replaces Lee Knife, who left the organization late last year.
Music VR platform Endless Riff added Mike Rich and Benji Rogers to their Advisory Board. The move comes after the VR platform launched in open beta on the Oculus store. Mike Rich previously worked at AOL, RCA, RadioOne Time, and Bertelsmann. Benji Rogers founded PledgeMusic in 2009 and cofounded dotBlockchain Music.
Kobalt appointed Arif Mahmud as Vice President of Business Affairs. He will work out of the company’s London office with the company’s management team. He previously worked at Three Six Zero as General Manager and General Counsel.
iHeartMedia named Jeff Wyatt Senior Vice President of Programming for Baltimore, MD. He will also serve as Program Director for 93.1 WPOC and 102.7 JACK-FM. Separately, iHeartMedia Washington, D.C., named Tommy Chuck Program Director for 97.1 WASH-FM.
CBS Radio Chicago named Chad Feldman Vice President and Director of Sales. This marks the third sales leadership change in sixteen months. He will work under Tim Pohlman, Senior Vice President and Market Manager of the seven-station group.
Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment added two key members to expand their West Coach reach. The company hired Tina Suca as VP of Industry Relations and Andy Miller as Executive Director of Global Partnerships.
Kevin Calame joined Honua Music as Director of A&R. He’ll work on the development of the independent music company and publisher’s global producer and songwriter roster. The roster includes Axident, Gladius, Big Taste, Mzwétwo and Larus. He previously worked as an A&R Consultant at Sony Music and as an Artist Manager and Executive Assistant at TH3RD BRAIN.
SoundCloud promoted Peter Diamond to Vice President of Brand Partnerships and Strategic Alliances, North America. Prior to SoundCloud, Diamond worked as Director of Sponsorship Sales at Major League Baseball Advanced Media.
After over a decade at rival Creative Artists Agency, David Klein joined United Talent Agency. Working with UTA’s Los Angeles team, he’ll help expand the agency’s footprint in the music and touring space. UTA also hired Greg Janese to head up the company’s special events and corporate division. Toni Wallace will work as the head of music brand partnerships at UTA.
In a newly created role, Viacom named Julia Phelps as Senior VP of Communications and Culture. She previously led communications for Viacom’s international operations. Phelps will continue reporting to Bob Bakish, President and CEO of Viacom.
Cumulus promoted Mike McVay to Executive VP of Content and Programming. The company also promoted David Milner and Bob Walker to Executive VP of Operations.
The Country Music Association (CMA) named Amber Williams as Vice President of Communications and Talent Relations. The association also named Haley Steinbuchel and Taylor Viegut as Strategic Partnerships Coordinator and Digital Coordinator, respectively. The CMA also promoted Catherine Blackwell to Senior Marketing Manager. Marty Filogamo and Tiffany Kerns received a promotion to Brand and Designs Specialist and Director of Community Outreach, respectively.
At the Canadian Music & Broadcast Industry Awards, Rush, Arthur Fogel, and Marilyn Denis received special awards for their contribution to the Canadian music industry.
Elsewhere, Red Light Management founder Coran Capshaw received City of Hope’s 2017 Spirit of Life award. City of Hope recognized Capshaw’s commitment to their mission and focus on providing cutting-edge cancer and diabetes treatment.
Top live European music agency X-ray Touring announced a joint venture partnership with Paradigm Talent Agency and investment firm Yucaipa. The deal will give X-ray’s acts expanded support in branding, endorsements, and digital content development and distribution. The partnership will also allow Paradigm’s list of globally represented artists to grow.
Kobalt hired former Columbia co-president Alison Donald as Head of Creative, UK. She’ll oversee and work closely with artists and managers across AWAL, Kobalt Music Recordings, and Kobalt Publishing (UK). She’ll also be responsible for driving growth in all divisions across the company.
Merlin appointed Helen Alexander as its new Finance Director. She previously served as Director of Operations and Business Development at Warner Bros’ post-production facility in Soho, London. Merlin also reduced their admin fees by 25%.
Bicoastal music shop Butter Music and Sound has opened its first European office. Led by Berlin Managing Director Marcus Nelson, the music shop chose Berlin and the bustling Potsdamer Strasse district as their outpost.
NYC-based firm NGage Sports And Entertainment announced the official launch of a new in-house marketing agency. Effective May 1, the agency will expand the company’s existing list of services. NGAGE’s Blake Armstrong will lead the effort along with 24Wesat Marketing’s Richard Nardo and Theresa Montgomery. The merger allows both companies to create ngagency, a full-service marketing operation collective which aims to serve NGAGE and select clients in the entertainment world.