CMA Names Sr. VP, Marketing and Partnerships

The Country Music Association has hired Damon Whiteside has been hired as the Senior VP of Marketing and Partnerships, effective Jan. 6, 2014.
“Damon is a highly-accomplished marketing and branding executive with extensive senior level marketing experience and a proven track record,” said CMA President of the Board Ed Hardy. “We are fortunate to have someone with his executive background from Disney, the No. 1 entertainment brand in the world, in this important leadership position at CMA.”
Whiteside will oversee CMA’s Marketing Department, which includes Creative Services and Digital, as well as the Research and Strategic Partnerships Departments. Whiteside will report to the recently appointed CEO, Sarah Trahern.
Since 2011, he has served as CMO, Brands and Talent, at Nomad Entertainment Group in Los Angeles, where he developed marketing, digital strategy, brand development, partnerships, TV and digital content production, music licensing, and celebrity talent relations for entertainment brand clients, music artists, producers, and songwriters.
Whiteside has also served on Disney’s Corporate Brand Management and Synergy Executive Committees, which identified and set strategy for the top franchise and marketing priorities across the Company.
His professional affiliations include NARAS, Music Business Association/NARM, CMA, Digital LA, CMO Club, American Marketing Association, Promotion Marketing Association, among others. Whiteside currently serves on the West Coast Board of Directors for the T.J. Martell Foundation. In 2013 he completed the Executive Program at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.