Executive Turntable: UMG Names VP of Sound & Picture; TuneCore Hires Rapper as Hip-Hop Head

TV producer and recording industry executive Roey Hershkovitz was named vp of sound & picture at Universal Music Group (UMG), a newly-created position. In the role, Hershkovitz will lead visual content capture across UMG’s studios, develop new programming and build on the company’s immersive audio efforts. Alongside head of video services Joe McCrossan, he will also develop new strategies to build on the company’s multimedia services and capabilities available to record labels, artists and songwriters. In addition to his vp of sound & picture title, Hershkovitz will also serve as head of West Coast studios, where he will continue to oversee Capitol Studios and its ongoing renovation. He was also appointed to UMG’s audio leadership team to drive innovation and audio quality, including Dolby Atmos Music adoption across a broad array of consumer products. Now based out of Santa Monica, Hershkovitz will report to executive vp of digital studios Christopher Jenkins and senior vp of recording studios & archive management Pat Kraus. Prior to his promotion, Hershkovitz was vp of Capitol Studios & Digital Studios.

Rapper Papoose was named head of hip-hop at TuneCore, where he will lead the Believe-owned company’s artist ambassador program for hip-hop and rap, scouting emerging talents, overseeing artist education and career advice workshops and acting as a brand advisor for new programs and technology launches. He’ll report to CEO Andreea Gleeson. In addition to his new executive role, Papoose also announced the release of his new single, “Making Plays” featuring Jim Jones and Jaquae, which drops Feb. 10. He can be reached at papoose@tunecore.com.

Colton McGee was named senior vp of business and legal affairs at Concord Label Group. Based at the company’s Nashville headquarters, McGee will work with executive vp of business and legal affairs Gregg Goldman as a key member of the business and legal affairs team for Concord’s recorded music division. McGee previously spent 13 years at BBR Music Group in Nashville, handling business and legal affairs for both BBR and BMG (the latter since 2017). He can be reached at colton.mcgee@concord.com.

Warner Chappell Production Music (WCPM) will expand into Brazil with a new team based in São Paulo, headed by Renato Moraes. In his role, Moraes will lead a team focused on building out a local repertoire and work to expand the company’s footprint by servicing the region’s film, TV, radio and advertising clients with WCPM’s catalog. The team will also provide custom music services and work to broaden creative partnerships. Moraes will report to vp of licensing & music creative Sinéad Hartmann and work closely with director of strategic, commercial, film, synch and licensing Flávia Cesar. He joins the company from Music Branding Brazil, where he was head of recordings and publishing. Moraes can be reached at Renato.Moraes@warnerchappellpm.com.

Adam Gardiner was named senior vp of international synch at Concord Music Publishing; he joins the company from Universal Music Group’s creative division, Globe, where he served as head of film & TV. In his new role, Gardiner’s purview will include all music publishing synch activity outside the U.S., with the U.K., Germany and Australia synch teams reporting directly to him. He will also coordinate all of the company’s third-party synch activity. Based in London, he reports to president of international publishing John Minch.

Music scholar and musician Jason King was named dean of the USC Thornton School of Music, effective July 1. He currently serves as chair of the Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at Tisch School of the Arts, New York University and also serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Popular Music Studies.

Joe Conyers III was named senior advisor to global growth investor Warburg Pincus in their technology group, specifically focusing his efforts on new investment opportunities in music and entertainment companies. Conyers was formerly executive vp and global head of NFT at Crypto.com and chief strategy officer of Downtown Music Holdings; he also co-founded Downtown subsidiary Songtrust. Conyers can be reached at jc@joeconyers.com and his website is joeconyers.com.

Erika Montes was named president at Rostrum Records, where she will lead the company’s growth strategy and oversee frontline label operations. Montes most recently led artist and label relations at SoundCloud, where she served as global vp. She reports to Rostrum founder Benjy Grinberg and can be reached at em@rostrumrecords.com.

Artist manager Andy Robinson and cross asset speculator Sean Stockdale launched Interstellar Music Services, a rights management company that “will primarily be made available to those qualifying artists and songwriters who wish to retain full control of their recordings and compositions,” according to a press release. The company will work to maximize the collection of royalties via a suite of services that includes digital distribution, sync and brand partnerships, metadata cleaning, neighboring rights, publishing administration, DSP repitching and detailed analysis and reporting. Joining Interstellar at launch are David Wille and Sarah Bargiela, who join as global head of sync and brand partnerships and head of copyright and royalties, respectively. Robinson formerly launched Interstellar Music and Interstellar Publishing, which informed the establishment of Interstellar Music Services; Stockdale has 13 years of experience in asset management, with a particular expertise in saber metrics. Wille most recently served as senior vp at Kobalt Music Publishing, while Bargiela was senior income tracking manager at BMG Rights Management.

Ru Ping Gan was named vp of digital, Asia Pacific at Warner Chappell Music, where she will oversee Warner Chappell Music Asia Pacific’s digital strategy and commercial operations while working closely with the global digital and WCM Asia leadership team to help shape international policies that support local songwriters. She will also be tasked with driving digital strategic planning initiatives. Gan, who was most recently vp of revenue and deal strategy, joined WCM Asia Pacific in 2013.

Butch Spyridon, longtime head of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp (NCVC) who has served as president and CEO since 2003, will retire from the organization on June 30, 2023, following 32 years as its top executive. He’ll be succeeded by current president Deana Ivey, who will be promoted to president and CEO effective July 1, 2023. On that date, Spyridon will transition into a role as a strategic consultant to the NCVC under a two-year contract that will see him recruiting major global events to the city, including the Rugby World Cup and, if an enclosed stadium is approved, the Super Bowl.

Patra Sinner was named general counsel at Symphonic Distribution, where she will advise the company’s senior management team on both internal and external legal needs and manage and negotiate partner contracts including DSPs, industry organizations and contractors, as well as record labels, ambassadors and artists. Based in Charlotte, North Carolina, Sinner has been in private practice for nearly 20 years and is also the co-founder of Nashville-based artist management, distribution and label services company Vista 22. She can be reached at patra@symdistro.com.

Meike Nolte was appointed business development manager for b:electronic, the dance & electronic division of Believe. Reporting to b:electronic global director Leigh Morgan, Nolte will be tasked with defining and executing the sourcing and acquisitions strategy for labels and artists within the electronic division. She most recently led Beatport’s artist services department.

Dave Felipe was named director of publicity at Zach Farnum‘s 117 Entertainment, where he will oversee all publicity initiatives for 117’s roster. He was most recently public relations manager for the Mechanical Licensing Collective (the MLC). Felipe can be reached at Dave@117group.com.

Ra-Fael Blanco was promoted to senior vp of media relations & communications for Universal/Virgin Music’s SRG-ILS Group; he was previously vp of media relations. Blanco will continue overseeing PR and media efforts for SRG-ILS clients including Chaka Khan, Brian McKnight and Erica Campbell, among others. He reports to general manager Michael Cusanelli and founder/CEO Claude Villani. Blanco can be reached at Ra-Fael@2rsentandmediapr.com.

Austin-based publicist Trey Hicks launched his own PR agency, Painting Pictures. Joining Hicks in the new venture is Allison Winkler. Hicks previously worked as an account director at Giant Noise and founded Trey Hicks PR. He can be reached at trey@paintingpictures.co.

Lauren Branson joined River House Artists as vp of publicity, where she will develop and execute PR strategies for the company’s roster. She reports to founder and CEO Lynn Oliver-Cline and vp and gm Zebb Luster. Branson joins from BMI, where she served as senior director of media relations for eight years. She can be reached at lauren@riverhouseartists.com.

Amber Morris was hired as global account director – TikTok at Songtradr. In the role, Morris will build and maintain the company’s relationship with TikTok, working with their team to expand the video-sharing platform’s partnership with Songtradr.