New A&R moves in the music industry

It has been a fairly active and as always interesting two months in the music industry world on several fronts. Just a few industry news items since our last newsletter we wanted to make sure you hadn’t missed! Jumping right in, Mike Puskas, CEO of IKONIC, has been appointed Label Director for Australian-based DyNaMik Records. It’s been announced that John Hamm will be stepping down as CEO of PonoMusic and that Neil Young will step into the vacated CEO role and that Rick Cohen will beco me the company’s COO. Island Records has promoted label veteran Eric Wong to EVP/General Manager of the label. Amy Thurlow has been named COO and CFO for dick clark productions. Brian Message has stepped down as Chair of the Music Managers Forum after serving four years. The MMF Board elected Diane Wagg and Stephen Budd to replace Message as Co-Chairs. Kobalt Label Services appointed Tom Smith as VP, Sales and Marketing. Warner Bros. Pictures has promoted Niki Sherrod to SVP of Music from VP of Music, a post she held since 2006. Music Sales has named Bree Winwood as Head of Synchronization as well as Annie Roseberry as an A&R Consultant. Gray Warner has been appointed as Label Manager for Proper Music Distribution. AIM (Association of Independent Music) announced four new board members: Nathan Barley Phillips of Invictus Music & Media, Tim Dellow of Transgressive Records, Stephen Richards of Lucky Number Music and Paul Sanders of The state51 Conspiracy. Warner Music has promoted Tim Fraser-Harding, the label’s current SVP of Global Catalog Management based in London, to be the label’s President of Global Catalog, Recorded Music. Evan Lipschutz is named VP, A&R for Atlantic Records. Lipschutz joins Atlantic from Mercury/Island Records, where he spent the past six years, most recently as VP of A&R. Warner Music also announced the promotion of Mark Pinkus to President, US Catalog and Rhino Entertainment from his current position as Rhino’s SVP Sales and Marketing. Kalimba Music, relaunched last year by Earth, Wind & Fire Founder Maurice White, has appointed Ted Joseph as their new Label Manager. And, after four years at Imagem Music, Amanda Schupf has moved on to oversee A&R and Creative for the newly formed INgrooves Rights Services, a division of INgrooves Music Group. DJ/Producer Maarcos and Sony Music Australia EDM director, Jon Hanlon have launched a new EDM label called Fuze Records.

Source: A&R Registry