Musical chairs -- Week 2 of 2021

 USA

Independent music company Downtown Music Holdings has ​appointed Dewayne Ector ​(pictured, below) to the newly created position​ of​ Chief Revenue Officer, responsible for ​"​overseeing the successful negotiation and maximization of revenue from digital licenses covering all rights types represented across Downtown’s business units.​"​ Ector​ was Global Head of Partner Relations & Income Tracking​ at Downtown's rights management subsidiary Songtrust. “Establishing a group-wide strategy for digital licensing with DSPs and other pay sources has long been part of Downtown’s plan to support our continued growth and efforts to scale our business globally,” said Downtown CEO Justin Kalifowitz​, to whom Ector reports​. ​"​Dewayne’s knowledge and command of the complicated global royalties landscape and his commitment to both clients and colleagues make him ideal for this important role.​"


Sony/ATV Music Publishing has promoted Brad Levin to Senior Vice President, Finance, based in the company’s New York office. He reports to Global Chief Financial Officer Tom Kelly. Levin’s responsibilities include financial reporting and analysis, technical accounting research, providing guidance and support on deal negotiations, and other finance-related projects. He was Sony/ATV's Vice President, Finance since May 2015.

The Executive Committee of the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) has elected John Ozier, EVP Creative at Reservoir Media Management and President of AIMP's Nashville Chapter since 2015, as the organisation's new National Chair. He succeeds Teri Nelson-Carpenter, who remains the President of AIMP's Los Angeles Chapter. AIMP National Chairs are selected from the three chapter presidents by the Executive Committee, and serve one two-year term. AIMP's New York Chapter President is Michael Lau, CTO of Round Hill Music Publishing. 

US neighbouring rights society SoundExchange has appointed PaulGills (pictured, below) as Vice President of Publisher Services. In this new position, Gills will "plan, lead, and implement the publishing operations shared services model across all SoundExchange companies and teams." SoundExchange said this role will be "instrumental in driving the strategic direction of the company’s publishing practice and overseeing its growth through key initiatives and business opportunities." Gills report to SoundExchange Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Anjula Singh. Before joining SoundExchange, Gills was Vice President of North American Administration for Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG).


James Burtson has been promoted from Chief Financial Officer to President of Los Angeles-based Creative Artists Agency (CAA), while Carol Sawdye has been appointed to succeed him. Sawdye joins from PwC where she was Chief Operating Officer. Burtson replaces Richard Lovett, who will continue in his role as CAA co-chairman, alongside Kevin Huvane and Bryan Lourd. "We will continue to invest in expanding our capabilities and operations to meet the challenges of the changing business landscape while creating and capturing broader opportunities for our clients and partners,” said Burtson.

Soundstripe, the Nashville, TN-based music and stock licensing firm, has appointed industry veteran Drew Weaver to the newly-created position of Chief Operating Officer (COO), responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations at Soundstripe. He reports to Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Travis Terrell and Micah Sannan. Prior to joining Soundstripe, Weaver was SVP and Head of Product for Pantaya, the Spanish-language streaming service backed by Lionsgate and Hemisphere Media. 

Olivia Laster (pictured, below) has been promoted to Director of Marketing at Sony Music Nashville, reporting to Senior Vice President of Marketing Jennifer Way. She was previously Associate Director, Promotion and Artist Development at Sony Music Nashville. 


Washington, DC-based advocacy group the Copyright Alliance, has elected two members to its Board of Directors: Daryl Friedman of the Recording Academy and Tom Maddrey of ASMP, who is returning for a second term. Both will be serving two-year terms. Friedman replaces on the Board Michael Lewan of the Recording Academy.

CANADA

Music Canada, the trade body representing the major companies in Canada, has appointed Patrick Rogers as Chief Executive Officer, taking over a position that had been vacant since Graham Henderson stepped down in May 2020. Rogers was Music Canada's Vice President, Corporate Affairs and served as interim co-CEO since June.

In addition, Jackie Dean (pictured, below) has been appointed President of record company's neighbouring rights society CONNECT Music Licensing and will remain Chief Operating Officer of Music Canada after also serving as interim co-CEO since June. "After a competitive search process with a wide variety of talented and interested candidates, the Board is confident Patrick's vision for Music Canada builds on the organization's record of success with an eye to the opportunities of the future," said Music Canada Chair of the Board Jennifer Sloan. Both appointments are effective Monday, January 11th.


UK

Music Week has confirmed that as of February, the British trade magazine will be published as a monthly rather than a weekly. In the process, Mark Sutherland, who served as the magazine's editor for the past five years will be leaving the publication as well as senior staff writer James Hanley. The Music Week editorial team now includes GeorgeGarneras head of content, features editor Ben Homewood and digital editor Andre Paine.

FRANCE

Michèle Domi (pictured, below) has been appointed senior A&R director at Warner Chappell Music France. She reports to Matthieu Tessier, President of Warner Chappell Music France. She worked previously for management consultancy firm Fix It Music Agency. She joins an A&R that includes Joris Auffret, Valentin Zucca and Jerôme Brucker. 


Irène Basilis has been appointed Director of Cultural Affairs for the City of Paris, succeeding Claire Germain who held the job since February 2018. Basilis was previously Director of Culture for the City of Lille.

POLAND

Bartosz Szwoch (pictured, below) has been appointed Chief Financial Officer of Warner Music Eastern Europe, replacing Michal Muszynski, who is leaving the company. Based in Warner Music’s office in Warsaw, Poland he reports jointly to Kinga Siennicka, Managing Director of Warner Music Poland, and Vladimir Kočandrle, Managing Director of Warner Music Czech Republic. He has been CFO of Polish music industry body ZPAV since 2019. He previously worked for Universal Music Poland.