Executive Turntable: Concord Names CFO of Recorded Music, BPI Appoints New Director of Public Affairs
A rundown of moves and shakers across the music business, including at Concord, BPI, Because Music, Ameer Sudan and more.
Concord CFO Bob Valentine announced Wednesday (April 15) that Nashville-based Hazel Malit has been promoted to CFO of the company’s recorded music business.
Malit will report to Valentine while working closely with Concord chief label executive Thom Whalley and chief catalog executive Sig Sigworth to manage the day-to-day-financial decisions of the company’s labels. Her primary focus will be to interface with all Concord frontline and catalog label groups, joint-venture partners, KIDZ BOP and shared service operational department within the recorded music division to provide reporting, budgeting, forecasting and other insights.
Additionally, Malit will assist with financial due diligence for potential strategic initiatives and ensure that all activities within the recorded music financial department at Concord are aligned with the company’s overall goals, adhere with its general accounting and operational policies and are consistent with its core values.
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Malit started at Concord in 2011, when she was hired as a royalty accounting manager. In recent years, she has led the company’s accounting integration process after Concord acquired labels such as Wind Up, Razor & Tie and Victory Records.
The previous CFO of Concord’s recorded music division, Michele Nadelman, decamped to Warner Bros. Records in January 2019.
Sophie Jones has been named director of public affairs at the U.K. record labels association BPI, it was announced Tuesday (April 14).
Jones hails from Channel 4, where she served as head of corporate relations. While there, she worked on several major public affairs and communications campaigns, including the organization’s “4 All the U.K.” regional strategy and work on inclusion and diversity. She held similar roles at both ITV and ITN and also serves on the advisory boards of Nesta’s Policy and Evidence Centre, the AHRC Creative Industries Advisory Group, the British Screen Forum Board and Creative Industries Federation Council.
At BPI she will replace Ian Moss, who left the organization at the end of last year to join academic journals body STM.
In a statement, BPI and BRIT Awards chief executive Geoff Taylor said that Jones has joined the organization at a pivotal time. He notes that BPI priorities in the near-term include free trade agreements with the E.U. and U.S. that protect and promote the U.K.’s creative sector; pushing for measures that encourage greater investment in U.K. talent; and a new strategic partnership to boost the profile of U.K. music and artists overseas.
Independent music group Because Music has named Ian Quay as head of marketing in the U.S., the company announced Tuesday (April 14).
In his new role, the Los Angeles-based Quay will oversee Because Music’s roster in the U.S., in partnership with the company’s label services partner Caroline/Universal Music Group and in direct collaboration with Because Group’s international team in London and Paris. He will report directly to founder and owner Emmanuel de Buretel.
Prior to joining Because Music, Quay was general manager, North America at London-based independent record label Ninja Tune. During his time there, he led U.S. campaigns for Bicep, Bonobo, Floating Points, ODESZA, Young Fathers and more.
Previous to that, Quay worked in marketing at Columbia Records, where he oversaw campaigns for Foster The People, HAIM and Peter Bjorn and John. He served in a similar role at Warner Music Group, where he worked with artists including Enya, Nile Rodgers and Lake Street Dive. He also manages a boutique artist roster that includes Cults and Kate Teague.
On Tuesday (April 14), 10K Projects head of marketing Theo Battaglia announced the appointment of Hannah Haines as head of publicity at the full-service independent record label.
In the newly-created position, Haines will steer 10K’s corporate communications efforts and oversee publicity campaigns for artists including Trippie Redd, Surfaces, iann dior and Quin NFN, as well as artists from the Internet Money creative collective, Homemade Projects and other affiliated labels.
Haines comes from Interscope Records, where she spent five years spearheading publicity for Playboi Carti, Sheck Wes, Rod Wave, Bad Gyal, Juice WRLD and more. Prior to that, she worked at independent label Friends of Friends Music.
Visionary Media Group (VMG) has named Anastasia Brown chief content strategist, the company announced Tuesday (April 14). Brown’s hiring follows the appointment of Cory B. Savage as CEO last week.
Brown’s new role will see her directing the creation and allocation of all digital and physical content across platforms for VMG’s music, film, television and scoring projects, including for the company’s flagship recording artist Kree Harrison, who is signed to subsidiary One Vision Music Group.
In a statement, Brown noted that her goal is “to grow a prolific and self-sustaining film, TV, podcast and gaming production center as well as an audiovisual scoring industry in Nashville.”
Brown’s 30-year career includes roles as a music supervisor, artist manager, music publisher, film/soundtrack/TV producer, author, TV personality, A&R/label executive and content creator at companies including Firstars Management in Nashville, Ark 21 Records, the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corporation and Warner Nashville.
Brown earned a Grammy nomination for her role as music consultant on the 2011 Footloose remake and served as an on-air judge on the USA Network series Nashville Star from 2005 to 2007. Additionally, Brown was an associate producer on the 2015 Hank Williams biopic I Saw the Light.
Milk & Honey Management has hired Harry Knyt as a new London-based manager for the firm, founder and president Lucas Keller announced Thursday (April 16). Knyt, who will report to Milk & Honey U.K. head Ant Hippsley, will help open the company’s new offices in Kings Cross, London.
In his new role, Knyt will expand Milk & Honey’s urban pop writer-producer management business with a roster that includes producers iO and Show N Prove. He joins the firm from Insanity Group.
Milk & Honey’s first singings in the U.K. include producer-artist Stuart Price and songwriter Andrew Jackson. It also signed British-German DJ and producer duo M22.
On Wednesday (April 15), music PR firm Lucky Bird Media announced Donica Elliott as the newest member of its team.
Established in 2017, the independent firm — which is also comprised of Daniel Cooper, Jake Lanier, Maddie Corbin, and Tom Avis – allow publicists to work as equal and autonomous partners. It has done work for labels including Sony BMG, Fire Talk Records, Fat Possum, 30th Century Records, Thirty Tigers, Mama Bird Recording Co., Mirror Music Group, Flying Nun Records, Grand Jury Music, Oh Boy Records, and Keeled Scales.
Elliott joins Lucky Bird from All Eyes Media, where she served as senior director for six years. While there, she worked with artists including Sarah Jarosz, John Moreland, Old Crow Medicine Show, Parker Millsap and Amanda Shires. She previously worked at Sugar Hill Records as director of artist & media relations and currently serves as day-to-day manager for Old Crow Medicine Show at Red Light Management.
Record producer and manager Ameer Sudan has formed a trio of companies: Silvaback Management, Hitnation (publishing company) and Silvaback Productions (film/TV development), it was announced Thursday (April 16). Sudan will serve as CEO, chairman and president of all three entities.
A release notes that Philadelphia rapper-songwriter-producer Louie V. Gutta will be signing with Silvaback and Hitnation.
Sudan is repped by attorney Joel A. Katz, founding chairman of the global media and entertainment practice at Atlanta law firm Greenberg Traurig. The firm’s Duane D. Sitar will also assist with future endeavors.