300 Publishing, the publishing division of the Warner Music-owned label 300 Entertainment, is partnering with Warner Chappell Music to sign and develop songwriters.
The new venture brings 300 signee Sean Momberger, who co-produced Kendrick Lamar’s record-breaking “Not Like Us,” to Warner Chappell. The venture will be spearheaded by 300 Publishing Vice President Jenn Essiembre.
“Jenn has been instrumental in developing 300 Publishing and is the only person I’d want steering this ship,” said 300 Entertainment Chairman and CEO Kevin Liles. “She’s a force in the industry and has already made a huge impact with top-tier signings and No. 1 hits. Keeping it in the WMG family and partnering with the world-class WCM led by Guy and Carianne was an obvious choice for us. They’re the best in the business and together we’ll expand our ability to deliver for our writers and producers.”
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+ JKash and Michael Pollack are set to helm Livelihood Music Company, a new music publishing venture that focuses on empowering creativity and cultivating careers.
JKash’s accomplishments, spanning more than a decade, include a vast catalog of chart-topping songs, seventeen ASCAP Awards, and a Grammy nomination. Pollack’s accolades include more than one hundred major artist releases and a Grammy for record of the year for Miley Cyrus’ “Flowers.” .
Pollack said, “I couldn’t be more excited to help build Livelihood into the next great independent music publishing company. Our leadership is uniquely comprised of both seasoned executives and active songwriter-producers, giving our clients the opportunity to both benefit from our services, and collaborate with and learn from experienced hit-makers. Of course, JKash has been and continues to be the best in the business at making, finding, and orchestrating hits. I’m so grateful to be a part of such an incredible team with an already remarkable roster.”
Christiansen added, “Stepping into the role of President at Livelihood was a natural fit for me. I was drawn to the company’s unwavering commitment to hands-on development and its dedication to supporting songwriters at every stage of their careers. Joining forces with hit songwriters like JKash and Michael Pollack further solidified my belief in Livelihood’s mission to prioritize the songwriter’s journey.”
+ Activist Artists Management has announced hired Karly Brecher as an Artist Manager. Brecher is based out of Activist’s Los Angeles office, where she works with the Pretty Reckless and other artists on the firm’s roster.
Before joining Activist, Brecher held positions at Scooter Braun Projects/HYBE and Laffitte Management Group.
+ TikTok and DistroKid announced today a platform integration designed for independent artists to engage with fans.
The new partnership is said to “dramatically reduce” the time it takes for artists to create their official TikTok Artist Account. The latter unlocks artist-first features like a Music Tab, New Releases, By Artist, Behind the Song, Fan Spotlight, Ticketing and more.
“TikTok is excited to partner with DistroKid to make it even easier for millions of artists to access powerful and easy-to-use tools to fuel their growth on TikTok, drive increased consumption of their music and grow their fanbases,” said Jay Bae, global head of music partnership development at TikTok.
“It’s now faster than ever for any artist to create their official TikTok Artist Account directly through DistroKid, reducing the process from weeks to just hours,” said Phil Bauer, President of DistroKid. “Building on our long history of collaboration, DistroKid members now have unique access to tools and features for promoting their music on TikTok’s leading discovery platform.”
+ Splice has named Kenny Ochoa its new senior VP of content.
In his new role, Ochoa will oversee Splice’s global content team as they continue to build upon their catalog of royalty-free human-made samples. Reporting to Splice CEO Kakul Srivastava, Ochoa will also assume responsibility for Splice’s content pipeline, building out artist partnerships and driving the platform’s overall industry outreach.
Kenny Ochoa joins Splice from Snap where he served as head of music curation and licensing (responsible for the platform’s music programming and curation in the U.S., India, France, UK, LATAM, MENA, Nigeria, and Ghana). Prior to Snap, Kenny held senior positions in creative sync licensing at Warner Bros. Records, Sony Music Entertainment, and Sanctuary Records Group.
“This is a critical time in our industry, so it was vital that we found someone with the relationships, taste and passion to help us build and prepare for the future of music creation” said Srivastava. “Kenny is what we were looking for, someone with deep experience of both the tech and music industries, who is also empathetic to the creator community.”
+ Warner Music Nashville announced today that Victoria “Torie” Mason has been promoted to senior VP of marketing and analytics for the label.
Having successfully led the teams since 2021, Mason, in her new role, will merge and rebrand the artist development team into the comprehensive WMN marketing department. In addition, the WMN interactive marketing team will now be digital marketing. The marketing department now encompasses artist marketing, digital marketing, analytics, brand partnerships, video strategy, and advertising strategy, all reporting to Mason.
Wednesday, July 17
Virgin Music Group has named Justin Bumper Reeve senior vice president of global sync, the Universal Music Group-owned label announced Wednesday.
Before joining VMG, Reeve was working on Hidden Track Music, a music placement and sync licensing boutique firm he founded in 2008. Reeve will oversee a global team at VMG that creates opportunities for artists and labels in advertising, film, television, trailers and video games, among other departments.
“Bumper is one of the most successful and respected creative sync executives in the business,” said Jeremy Kramer, executive VP of global marketing at VMG. “He is already proving to be invaluable for our label and artists clients around the world, having already secured syncs with global blue chip brands and some of the most commercially successful films and television shows.”
To date, Reeve has signed over 2,500 artists for sync and has licensed and/or negotiated more than 10,000 sync uses. His most notable sync placements at Virgin Music Group include BTS’s “Dynamite” in “Despicable Me 4,” NewJeans’ “ETA” for Gucci, bbno$’s “edamame (feat. Rich Brian)” for Mountain Dew’s Baja Blast Super Bowl ad, and David Kushner’s “Daylight” for Armani Acqua de Giò.
“This is a dream job,” said Reeve. “For almost two decades, I’ve been diligently and passionately working in sync in the independent sector, and every endeavor and challenge has prepared me for this opportunity on the global stage. Virgin Music Group has assembled an incredible team of seasoned executives around the world, working with some of the most important record labels and artists in our business. I’m looking forward to creating revenue-generating opportunities for our clients that will expand their audiences around the world.”
+ Spotify has launched a Spanish-language version of their AI DJ for premium listeners.
Olivia “Livi” Quiroz Roa (pictured below), a senior music editor at Spotify based out of Mexico City, is the voice behind the new Spanish-speaking DJ. The feature will be available in markets where the English-language DJ is currently available and is expanding to premium users across select markets in Latin America and Spain.
+ The Chamber Group (TCG) CEO Chris Chambers has promoted Cassandre Souvenir and Desmond Sam to PR managers.
Souvenir’s clients include Dante Bowe, Mass Appeal, Los Angeles Room and Board and more. Desmond’s roster includes Saweetie, Roddy Ricch, Mielle Organics, Japanese comedian Naomi Watanabe and more.
“The Chamber Group strives to foster an environment for growth. Desmond and Cassandre have worked very hard for this promotion, strengthened their relationships and continue to find new ways to deliver for our clients. I’m very proud of these young executives,” said Chambers.
Monday, July 15
300 Entertainment — the Warner Music-owned label home to Gunna, Famous Dex and more — has appointed Az Cohen to vice president of A&R and research, Janelle Gibbs to VP of publicity, and Tashana Ventura to VP of marketing.
Cohen will focus on identifying, signing, and developing new acts in addition to collaborating with talent on upcoming projects. Meanwhile, Ventura will lead marketing campaigns for artists across the label’s roster. Gibbs will spearhead media for all of the company’s artists, powering all public relations campaigns.
Co-Presidents Rayna Bass and Selim Bouab said, “Az, Janelle, and Tashana embody the spirit of 300 Entertainment. They live and breathe music, devoting themselves to their artists and tirelessly supporting their fellow team members. With their respective skillsets, diehard passion, and bold ideas, they truly represent a new vanguard of music industry executives. They’re integral to our future.”
Pictured above (L-R): Tashana Ventura, Az Cohen, Janelle Gibbs
+ Disney Music Group and AudioShake have partnered up to open Disney’s catalog of music to new creative and marketing opportunities. AudioShake’s technology in sound separation and lyric transcription will make it possible for DMG to unlock new listening and fan engagement experiences for the Disney Music catalog.
“We were deeply impressed by AudioShake’s sound separation technology, and were among its early adopters,” said David Abdo, senior VP and general manager of Disney Music Group. “We’re excited to expand our existing stem separation work as well as integrate AudioShake’s lyric transcription system. AudioShake is a great example of cutting-edge technology that can benefit our artists and songwriters, and the team at AudioShake have been fantastic partners.”
“Stems and lyrics are crucial assets that labels and artists can use to open up recordings to new music experiences,” said Jessica Powell, CEO of AudioShake. “We’re thrilled to deepen our partnership with Disney Music Group, and honored to work with their extensive and iconic catalog.”
+ Universal Music Group‘s leading merchandise and brand management company, Bravado, today announced the appointment of Mallary Birdsong as senior director of brand management. Birdsong will be based in Bravado’s Nashville office and will report to Brian Schechter, senior VP/ head of brand management, artist relations, of Bravado.
Birdsong joins Bravado from Make Wake Artists, where she served as director of merchandise. During her tenure, Birdsong’s artist roster included Luke Combs, Flatland Cavalry, Niko Moon, Cooper Alan, Josh Abbott Band, Hailey Whitters, Dillon Carmichael and many others.
+ Rimas Publishing has renewed its global agreement with the Grammy-winning producer duo Súbelo NEO.
Freddy Montalvo (Freddy) and José Carlos Cruz (Phantom) won a Grammy for best latin pop or urban album for Bad Bunny’s “YHLQMDLG” and received a historic Grammy nomination for album of the year for Bad Bunny’s “Un Verano Sin Ti.”
Named Variety Hitmakers in 2022, Súbelo NEO’s repertoire includes hits such as “Me Porto Bonito,” “Yo Perreo Sola,” “El Makinón,” and “Envolver,” among others. Súbelo NEO has has collaborated with artists like Anuel AA, Anitta, Chencho Corleone, Karol G, Jowell & Randy, Nicky Jam, Ricky Martin, Tony Dize, and more.
