Musical chairs -- Week 3 of 2021

 USA

Primary Wave Music has appointed Natalia Nastaskin(pictured, below) as Chief Content Officer, effective Feb. 1. She reports to the independent publishing and talent management company's Founder and CEO Larry Mestel. Nastaskin joins from talent agency UTA where she served as General Manager of the Global Music Group since 2015. Primary Wave manages such artists as Melissa Etheridge, Cypress Hill, Fantasia and Cee LoGreen and represents the catalogues of artists and songwriters such as Stevie Nicks, Smokey Robinson, Bob Marley, Robbie Robertson, Whitney Houston and Ray Charles.


Sony Music Entertainment's label RCA Records has unveiled a new leadership structure with the promotion of Mark Pitts to the role of President of RCA Records, and John Fleckenstein to Chief Operating Officer, where, in addition to his current duties, he takes on more of the company’s day-to-day business oversight. Both executives continue to report to Peter Edge, Chairman & CEO of RCA Records. Joe Riccitelli, who was Co-President with Fleckenstein, will depart the company. Pitts is tasked to grow and drive the label's Creative Business Operations as well as its cultural initiatives. Pitts was most recently President of Urban Music.

Lloyd Hummel has been promoted to the position of EVP, Global Commercial Strategy at Ingrooves Music Group, the music marketing services and distribution unit for independent companies owned by Universal Music Group. He was previously SVP and in his new role, he and his team will continue to oversee commercial digital partner management, video services, physical product sales and engagement marketing. Hummel continues to report to Ingrooves’s CEO Bob Roback. 

Greenberg Traurig has confirmed that music attorney Joel Katz has left the law firm at the end of 2020. "Joel Katz has, by mutual understanding, resigned from the firm as of December 31, 2020. Our global entertainment practice remains strong, diverse and among the largest, most dynamic and highest rated in the world," said Greenberg Traurig executive chairman, Richard A.Rosenbaum, adding: "We thank Mr. Katz for his contributions over the years and have no further comment at this time." According to Billboard, Atlanta-based Katz will open his own practice and "many of his label executive and artist clients are expected to follow him." One of Katz's top clients was the Recording Academy, on behalf of whom he negotiated a multi-million dollar deal with CBS for the broadcast of the Grammy Awards.

Ticketing platform Lyte has promoted Lawrence Peryer from Chief Revenue Officer to Chief Strategy Officer, and appointed Wendi Sturgis, most recently the CEO of Yext Europe, as Chief Revenue Officer. “With our significant war chest of human and financial capital it is now up to us to complete our mission of delivering fairness and value to all of the global stakeholders in the live events ecosystem," said Lyte Founder and CEO Ant Taylor, as the company has recently raised $33 million in a Series B funding round from investors including Chamath Palihapitiya’s Social Capital, music producer and composer Quincy Jones and Rocketship VC.

US lawyerJacqueline C. Charlesworth has set up her own boutique firm, focusing on copyright, music, policy, trademark, transactional and litigation. Sherman Oaks, CA-based Charlesworth Law also includes Lois R. Fishman who focuses on transactional issues. Charlesworth was General Counsel and Associate Register of Copyrights of the US Copyright Office before joining in 2017 law firm Covington & Burling and in 2019 Alter, Kendrick & Baron. She serves as a trustee of the Los Angeles Copyright Society and is an advisor to the songwriter advocacy organisation Songwriters of North America (SONA).

Bhamati Viswanathan and Lateef Mtima have been appointed to the Academic Advisory Board of Washington, DC-based advocacy organisation the Copyright Alliance. Viswanathan is an Emerson College Affiliate Professor, and former Legal Fellow with the Center for the Protection of Intellectual Property (CPIP). She is the author of 'Cultivating Copyright: How Creators and Creative Industries Can Harness Intellectual Property to Survive the Digital Age'. Mtima is a Howard University Professor of Law, and the Founder and Director of the Institute for Intellectual Property and Social Justice. He is the editor/contributing author of 'Intellectual Property, Entrepreneurship and Social Justice' and 'The Cambridge Handbook on Intellectual Property Social Justice', due to be published this year.

EUROPE

Brussels-based independent labels' organisation IMPALA has enlisted Vick Bain from vbain consulting and Arit Eminue of DiVA Apprenticeships to provide diversity and inclusion training to its members. IMPALA’s first diversity training for members will be held on 27 January.

UK

British rights society PRS for Music has named singer, songwriter, composer and educator Michelle Escoffery (pictured, below) President of the PRS Members’ Council, effective immediately. The new role was confirmed at last year’s PRS Annual General Meeting as part of an overall review of the organisation's governance. “It is a true honour to be appointed as president of the PRS Members’ Council," said Escoffery. "As president, I will work to solidify relationships between our membership and the Members’ Council, bring more relevance to younger writers and further develop a rich culture of diversity on all levels, reflecting our membership from the top down."


Chris Tarbet has been promoted to Director, Commercial Partnerships at Merlin, the digital licensing agency for the independent sector. He was previously Head of Global Member. Based in London, he will lead the global team that supports Merlin members to maximise their opportunities with digital partners. Tarbet joined Merlin in 2015 as Technical Operations Manager.

AUSTRALIA

Christopher (CM) Mark Murphy, Chairman of Murphy Petrol Group, has died at his Ballina property in New South Wales aged 66. He had a 40-year career in the entertainment industry, and is better known for managing Australian band INXS and orchestrating their rise to global stardom. "It is with great sadness that the remaining members of INXS mourn the passing of our brother, Chris Murphy. Without Chris’s vision, passion and hard work, the INXS story would be totally different," said the band in a statement.