Executive Turntable: Moves at Sony, Arista, Atlas Music & More
A list of moves and shakes across the music business, including at Sony Music Entertainment, Arista Records, Atlas Music and more.
Sony Music Entertainment has promoted both Monica Cornia and Melissa Thomas to SVPs of international marketing at two of the label’s subsidiaries, it announced Monday (Sept. 17). Specifically, Cornia has been appointed to SVP for RCA Records and Arista Records and Thomas has been named SVP for Columbia Records and Epic Records.
Cornia and Thomas will work in New York to focus on Sony Music’s U.S. labels internationally. In the SVP roles, they will be responsible for developing and executing international marketing campaigns the artists that are signed in the United States. Additionally, they will lead the New York and London-based international marketing teams with a focus on international digital marketing, promotion and sales.
“I am very grateful to Sony Music for this incredible opportunity. I have been so fortunate to be inspired by the leadership team at RCA daily, and I look forward to continuing to work alongside them.” said Cornia. “I am also tremendously excited to expand my role to partner with Arista, and for the chance to lead the next chapter of this extraordinary team together with Melissa as we continue to develop global artists and create world class campaigns.”
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Added Thomas: “I am thrilled to be working with Monica to lead the tremendous team we have in place as we continue to elevate our artist campaigns and push boundaries to break artists around the world.”
As a VP, Cornia previously headed global campaigns which includes Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, and Zayn and others. Thomas managed the global team that has discovered acts including DJ Khaled, Future, French Montana and Travis Scott and more as VP, international for Epic Records,
Arista Records president and CEO David Massey announced on Thursday (Sept. 20) that Brian Vinikoor, Dieuwertie (“Dee”) Heuvelings and Ethan Geltzer will assume the roles of VP of marketing, senior director of A&R and marketing, and senior director of digital marketing and branding, respectively. All three will be based in New York and will report to Massey.
In his new role, Vinikoor will be responsible for driving Arista’s overall marketing strategy. Heuvelings will be responsible for both identifying new artists across all genres and building digital-focused marketing strategies for the entire Arista roster. Geltzer will handle the creation and execution of digital marketing strategies to build awareness around Arista artists and releases.
“I am delighted to welcome Brian, Dee and Ethan to the team,” said Massey. “We are building Arista as a new model major label, and they each are forward-thinking industry professionals with experience outside of the recorded music business who bring a tremendous amount of creativity and expertise to the company.”
Atlas Music Publishing announced the hiring of Mike Locke for VP of creative synchronization and marketing on Thursday (Sept. 20). In the Los Angeles-based position, Locke will oversee synch activity and help with the company’s business development.
“When we decided we needed a senior-level person at the wheel, we met with many, many candidates, but it was clear to us that Mike had both the experience, and the ‘never quit’ attitude that is vital for this role,” said Atlas founder and CEO Richard Stumpf. “Under Mike’s leadership the team will inevitably add to the already strong results we’ve had.”
Added Locke: “I’m thrilled to join the Atlas team and look forward to further developing their catalog. They’ve done an impressive job in a short period of time working with both iconic song catalogs and developing new talent. I look forward to getting creative with ways to partner within the industry, build out the sync department and contribute to the overall company growth.”
Locke joins Atlas Music Publishing after previously heading the sync licensing department at INgrooves.
Cornerstone / The FADER announced a slew of new hires on Tuesday (Sept. 18), including Felipe Ferreira as creative director, Anicée Gaddis as a senior writer, Shauna Alexander as director, East Coast brand partnerships, Brittany Oldham as director, West Coast brand partnerships, and Warren Seuradge as senior integrated strategist.
“The thing that sets The FADER / Cornerstone apart from the rest of the media and agency space, is the team we have built and the talent we continue to attract here,” said Jon Cohen, co-CEO of Cornerstone and co-founder of The FADER. “Our staff lives, eat and breathes culture. They combine that tremendous passion with deep experience and a genuine understanding of what brands need to authentically embrace culture in their marketing.”
The newly recruited talent comes from agencies and cultural media companies including 72andSunny, VICE, Sid Lee, Washington Post, Moogfest and RCA. The additions to the staff continue to grow the creative department that unites agency and media sides of The FADER and Cornerstone.
“Brands are experiencing how important it is to have a genuine connection to culture and need to be on the leading edge of it,” said Rob Stone, founder and co-CEO of Cornerstone and co-founder of The FADER. “This all plays into the strength of our unique model of a super credible media platform in FADER and our cutting-edge creative thinking at Cornerstone.”
SoundExchange announced on Wednesday (Sept. 19) that Richard Conlon has been promoted to chief corporate development officer. Conlon leaves his previous role as SoundExchange’s chief external affairs officer.
In his new role, Conlon will be responsible for overseeing business development strategies and leading the company’s expansion efforts to expand its line of services for labels, artists, music publishers licensees. Under Conlon, the development team will continue building upon their core capabilities, business process and technical assets and will also coordinate services for SXWorks and CMRRA.
SoundExchange president and CEO Michael Huppe said, “Richard’s leadership in the music industry makes him the ideal person to help drive our strategy to grow SoundExchange into a diversified portfolio of companies and services for the entire industry.”
Added Conlon: “SoundExchange is helping re-order the business of music by creating solutions that facilitate royalty distributions to music creators, setting standards and service levels that the industry can rely upon. SoundExchange is committed to innovation and growth delivered at the speed of digital.”
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