Executive Turntable: Indie Promo Vets Launch LiveCo; BMI Elevates 8 on Creative Team

LiveCo, a new concert promotion company that combines BASE Entertainment, Premier Productions, Icon Concerts, Rush Concerts and Peachtree Entertainment, launched with a team that includes Brian Becker and Mark Maluso (BASE Entertainment), Michael Pugh and Shane Quick (Premier Productions), Paul Meloche (Icon Concerts), Jacob Reiser (Rush Concerts) and Bradley Jordan (Peachtree Entertainment). “Designed to help expand the live entertainment industry,” according to a press release, LiveCo represents talent and productions including Jimmy O. Yang, Criss Angel, Cocomelon Live, Cody Johnson, Jo Koy, Dude Perfect, Zach Bryan, MercyMe, Elevation Worship and Gabriel Iglesias.

BMI announced several key promotions within its creative team. Rafael Martinez and John Ellwood were appointed to the newly created roles of vp of strategy and business affairs, creative and assistant vp of strategy and business affairs, creative, respectively. Reema Iqbal was named executive director of creative, film, TV & visual media. LuAnn Davidson was promoted to executive director of creative administration. Nina Carter was promoted to senior director of creative, partnerships & events. Jon Miller was named director of creative, Europe. Lastly, Katie Kilgallen and Reginald Stewart were both promoted to director of creative. Ellwood can be reached at jellwood@bmi.com, Iqbal can be reached at riqbal@bmi.com, Carter can be reached at ncarter@bmi.comm, Miller can be reached at jmiller@bmi.com and Kilgallen can be reached at kkilgallen@bmi.com.

Todd Moscowitz‘s Santa Anna label appointed Dave Anderson as GM and Carlos “Los” Orgando as vp of promotion. Anderson, who previously served in vp of commerce roles at Geffen and Warner Records, will oversee Santa Anna’s marketing, promotion and digital teams. Orgando, who will assist the label in developing and executing its promotion strategy across several formats, previously held the vp of promotion role at both Geffen and Warner Records. Elsewhere, Derek Lee added the title of CFO of Santa Anna to his existing title of senior vp & CFO at Moscowitz’s Alamo Records.

William “Andy” Anderson was promoted to chief revenue officer at American Urban Radio Networks (AURN); he was previously president of sales. In the role, Anderson will help maximize revenue opportunities, product acquisitions and original content creations for the company. Anderson previously served as director of urban/Canadian advertising at Billboard. (via Radio Facts)

Markus Holzherr was appointed to the newly created role of chief business officer at Warner Music Central Europe. In his new role, Holzherr will oversee the finance, new business, research & analytics and legal departments. He comes from DFB GmbH & Co. KG, where he served as managing director of finance and controlling.

Rob Gross was hired as senior vp of label services at The Syndicate. In the newly-created role, Gross will provide full-scale project management for album releases and sales for all aspects of the company’s services in radio, marketing and PR. Most recently a partner at Shark Attack, he brings clients Warner/Rhino Records and Dine Alone Records to The Syndicate. Gross can be reached at gross@thesyn.com.

Fresh N Sassy Productions CEO/founder Janishia Jones launched ENCORE Music Tech Solutions, a music tech consultancy that signed EMPIRE Publishing as its first client. Under that deal, ENCORE will work with EMPIRE Publishing to scale and improve the publisher’s performance across royalty payment, reporting, synch and other complex systems. ENCORE has already “helped create crucial systems” for EMPIRE Publishing including solutions to better manage agreements, financial accounts and copyrights, according to a press release. Jones can be reached at Info@encoremusic.tech.

Liberty Wilson was promoted to vp of international marketing at Warner Music UK, advancing from her previous role of international marketing director. She’ll continue reporting to the label’s senior vp of international marketing, Victor Aroldoss.

Human Re Sources hired Junko Takeda as vp. Based in Los Angeles, Takeda will oversee day-to-day label relations of Human Re Sources’ Los Angeles and Atlanta operations and continue building the company’s roster of artist clients with support from The Orchard. Takeda most recently served as head of A&R operations at Warner Chappell Music.

The National Independent Venue Foundation (NIVF) appointed Carl Atiya Swanson as executive director. In the role, Swanson will play a key role in “expanding and solidifying NIVF’s programmatic vision,” according to a press release, collaborating with the executive leadership of the National Independent Venue Association (NIVA) and NIVF “to preserve and nurture the ecosystem of independent live performance venues, festivals and promoters throughout the U.S.” He will work to strengthen the independent venue sector via economic development initiatives and workforce development programs while managing critical services including emergency relief funding. Swanson was previously associate director at Springboard for the Arts.

Jacee Badeaux and Halle Bartlett were promoted to senior creative director of A&R and coordinator of A&R, respectively, at Big Yellow Dog Music. In his new role, Badeaux will continue to curate activity for the company’s writers, artists and producers; he was previously creative director. Bartlett, who was previously creative assistant, will be responsible for calendar management, writer coordination, song pitching and social media for Big Yellow Dog songwriters. Badeaux can be reached at Jacee@bigyellowdogmusic.com and Bartlett can be reached at halle@bigyellowdogmusic.com.

Stephanie McGuire was appointed senior A&R international at CTM Publishing. She will continue to guide CTM’s composers, authors and producers while also focusing on fostering more international collaborations and createingmore overseas opportunities for the company’s roster. McGuire can be reached at Stephanie.mcguire@ctm.nl.

John Page joined Oak View Group (OVG) as senior vp of Acrisure Arena, the Coachella Valley Firebirds and OVG360 Facilities. In the role, he will oversee the management and oversight of all three entities. Based in Palm Springs, Page reports to Coachella Valley Firebirds president Tod Leiweke, OVG business development president Francesca Bodie and OVG360 president Chris Granger. Prior to joining OVG, he served as president of Spectra, which OVG acquired in November 2021.

Nashville’s Society of Leaders in Development (SOLID) announced the newly elected members to its 2023 board of directors: President Erin Pettit (Wiles + Taylor), vp Rio Van Risseghem (The Orchard), secretary Jenna Smith (SESAC) and treasurer Ryan Cunningham (ONErpm). Additionally, Grayson Flatness (Sounds Good) was named alumni president of the SOLID Alumni Board.

Hyperreal — the tech company that develops “digital twins” for artists and other creators, allowing them to control their digital identities in the metaverse and beyond — named Scot Barbour chief technology officer and Tim Coleman vp of digital humans. Meanwhile, the company’s chief innovation officer, Sergi Sagas, joined the Hyperreal board of directors. Barbour, who was previously head of production and digital DNA acquisition, will drive the company’s technology roadmap and partnerships and supervise physical and virtual production for Hyperreal. Coleman, who joined Hyperreal in 2020, will head up the effort to build the company’s “highly-detailed, performance ready, photoreal digital avatars known as ‘HyperModels,'” according to a press release.