Tag Archive for: Musical Chairs

Evergreen: Barker Leaves, Drops ICG Moniker

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john-barker-08John Barker resigned his position as President of Integrated Copyright Group (ICG) and Vice President of Evergreen Copyright Administration on Monday.

Following that, today Evergreen co-CEOs David Schulhof and Richard Perna announced that ICG has formally changed its company name to EverGreen Copyrights. All ICG remaining staff will continue as employees of EverGreen.

ICG, the Nashville-based global independent administration company now in its nineteenth year, was built by Barker and purchased by Evergreen more than three years ago. During this time he says, “many positive changes have occurred, including adding a number of very talented and experienced personnel. This progression has brought us to the point where I can now step away and know that the company will continue to provide the excellent services it always has.”

Barker will remain a stock holder in Evergreen Copyrights, and will stay on as a consultant for them for at least 12 months. His old email addresses should also continue to work.

Republic Nashville Hires Bobby Young

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bobby_photoBobby Young has joined the newly formed label Republic Nashville as Director of National Promotion. With more than 20 years on Music Row, his stints include VP of Promotion & Artist Development at River North Nashville; VP of Promotion at Jeff McClusky & Associates, Inc; VP of National Country Promotion at Mercury Nashville; Partner/GM of Young-Olsen & Associates; as well as Southeast Regional Promotion & Marketing for Big Machine Records. Young most recently served as Sr. Vice President of Promotion & Artist Development at Graham Entertainment. In addition to his National responsibilities, Young will also cover the Southeast region.

Black River Announces New Staffers

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Black River Music Group has added former echomusic staffers Shay Boone and John Gusty to its team. They will be spearheading comprehensive new media efforts for the Nashville-based music group with a heavy focus on fan engagement, community building, data-capture and overall monetization of all BRMG initiatives.

Additionally, Boone and Gusty will be launching Black River Community Management under the BRMG umbrella. Black River Community Management will offer service packages designed to engage, grow and monetize fan communities for entertainment brands. BRMG’s roster is home to Jeff Bates, Sarah Darling and Emma Jacob.

Previously Boone and Gusty were key department heads of echomusic’s Marketing Services division. Boone launched echo’s Street Marketing Department in 2006 where she successfully managed and lead grass-roots and viral promotions for some of the industry’s biggest names such as Jonas Brothers, Keith Urban and Bon Jovi. Gusty was a founding member of echo’s original Marketing Department and was in charge of all advertising coordination and data-capture, as well as moving echo into the mobile realm in 2008 via a strategic relationship with mobile pioneers Mozes Inc.

Shane Allen Joins Capitol As VP Promotion

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shane-allen-08Capitol Records Nashville has named Shane Allen Vice President, Promotion and will report directly to Steve Hodges, Senior Vice President Promotion. Before his recent stint at GHM/Red Light Management, industry veteran Allen was Capitol Record Nashville’s VP Radio Strategies and Field Marketing.

“I’m extremely excited to be returning to Capitol Nashville in this capacity, and am especially grateful to Mike Dungan and Steve Hodges for giving me the opportunity,” said Allen. “I can’t say enough about the people, artist roster and incredible culture inside those halls on West End. I’m also very grateful to Greg Hill and all of my friends at GHM/Red Light Management for teaching me so much.”

Before his time at Capitol Records Nashville, Allen worked as the National Director, West and Southwest Promotion for Universal South Records. Before that Allen held several positions at MCA and Mercury Nashville in the Promotions department. Allen first got his start at San Diego’s KSON radio station.

Universal Republic, Big Machine Launch Republic Nashville

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harnen-borchetta

Jimmy Harnen, Scott Borchetta

Big Machine Records and Universal Republic have combined resources to form the new label Republic Nashville, which will be run by President Jimmy Harnen and headquartered on Music Row.

Republic Nashville’s inaugural roster will include honky tonkin’ singer/songwriter Sunny Sweeney and new country duo Fast Ryde, among other artists. A major staff announcement regarding the new label will be forthcoming.

Big Machine and Universal Republic—headed by Scott Borchetta and Monte Lipman, respectively—first worked together in 2007 to promote country superstar Taylor Swift.

Previously, Harnen was Senior Vice President of Promotion for Capitol Records, Nashville. From 2000 to 2003 he was Co-National Director of Promotion for DreamWorks Records in Nashville, working closely with Borchetta, who was a DreamWorks executive at the time. Harnen can be reached at [email protected] and at 615-324-7777.

Outsourcing Service Propel Music Opens

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Longtime A&R executive Peter Robinson and former publishing executive Alex Heddle have opened Propel Music, which will offer creative outsourcing for music publishing companies, songwriters, and others in the music industry. The company currently provides song pitching and writer management for Jeff Cohen, Greg Crowe, Jenn Schott, Lila McCann and Evie Nicole.

Robinson started his career working for Irving Azoff at Giant Records where he discovered and signed Stephen Jenkins of Third Eye Blind, among others. He went on to become Sr. VP of A&R at RCA Records and signed many acts, most notably Dave Matthews Band. Following time as Sr. VP of A&R at Epic Records and also running his own Dumbo Recording Studios, Robinson relocated to Nashville.

Heddle recently left the Creative Director position at Ash Street Music, where he spent three years working with many songwriters including Greg Crowe, Monty Holmes, Josh Thompson, and Andi Zack.

Propel Music is located at 3 Music Sq. W. and can be contacted at 615-942-8328 or [email protected].

Pictured (standing L-R): Greg Crowe, Jenn Schott, Lila McCann, Evie Nicole, Jeff Cohen, and (seated) Alex Heddle, Peter Robinson

Gershon To Head Warner/Chappell Nashville

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Tracy Gershon has joined Warner/Chappell Music in the newly created position of Senior Vice President and Head of A&R, Nashville. After more than twenty years in the music business, she most recently spent three years as Vice President, A&R at Warner Bros. Records Nashville, working with artists including Big & Rich, Faith Hill, and Blake Shelton.

In the new role, the California native will report to Scott Francis, President, Warner/Chappell Music and Chairman and CEO, Warner/Chappell Music U.S. She will play a major role in the company’s signing of songwriters and artists, catalog acquisition, and other new business ventures.

“I am truly excited about Tracy coming on board to lead and oversee our A&R efforts in Nashville,” says Francis. “She is a truly special, creative executive who is able to identify and successfully develop emerging songwriters and artist-songwriters early in their career and help them reach their full potential.”

Gershon has also worked for Sony Music Entertainment in Nashville as Senior Director, A&R, and handling Artist Development for Columbia Records/Epic. During that time she served as an on-air judge and supervising producer for the 2002-2004 seasons of Nashville Star. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of Leadership Music, NARAS, and The Actors Bridge Theater Group.

“I’m thrilled to be joining Warner/Chappell at such an exciting time with Scott running the company,” she says. “He and I share the same vision and love for songwriters and artists. Now more than ever emerging songwriters need strong partners in music publishers to help them not only identify opportunities to partner with recording artists but also help them to take advantage of the opportunities for their songs.”

Bug Appoints Murrah SVP Nashville

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Bug Music Publishing has appointed renowned songwriter and independent publisher Roger Murrah to senior vice president, Nashville. Effective immediately, he will be overseeing the Bug Music office in Nashville and will report directly to CEO John Rudolph in Los Angeles. Under the terms of the agreement, Bug Music has also acquired a portion of Murrah Music and its associated catalogs, with Murrah staff writers Neal Coty, Rebecca Lynn Howard, Jon Henderson, Lisa McCallum, Robert Deitch and Matt Dame set to move to the Bug umbrella.

With over three decades in the music industry, Murrah’s key responsibilities will be directing the overall objectives of Bug Nashville, managing the Bug Music collection of copyrights, and developing staff writers with VP John Allen, and Creative Director Sara Johnson, as well as continuing his own songwriting. He was most recently Chairman of Murrah Music Corporation, the company he founded in 1990. He is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and Chairman of its Foundation, and was honored as BMI’s Songwriter of the Decade for the ’90s.

“I’m delighted to find someone with Roger’s experience, credentials and contacts to enhance our Nashville office, my hometown,” said Rudolph. “This was an innovative deal that will allow us to pursue some really creative opportunities and redefine the way a publishing company operates. Roger has a rare combination of creative and business skills that complement each other very well.”

“I am very excited to be a part of John Rudolph’s vision for Bug Music here in Nashville. I look forward to working closely with John Allen, Kim Hylick, Sara Johnson, and the entire professional and creative staff, as well as the company’s partners and clients here in Nashville,” Murrah said. “Bug Music has a rich history of putting songs and songwriters first, which has always been my guiding philosophy in this business. Bug’s commitment to Nashville is clearly shown by this unprecedented, innovative opportunity John is giving me. I can’t think of another company I’d rather be with.”

Murrah will be based in the Bug Music Nashville office at 33 Music Square West, Suite 104B. He can be reached at 615-313-7676 or [email protected].

Sony Promotes Britta Coleman

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Britta Coleman has been promoted to the newly created position of Manager, Marketing Operations for Sony Music Nashville. The 16-year company veteran most recently served as Manager, Label Operations for the label group’s BNA Records. Her longtime work within the BNA promotion department dates back to the research leading to the imprint’s 1991 launch.

As Coleman advances, a new person has been confirmed to join the BNA team, with a formal announcement expected in the next few days.

MAC Presents Hires Ruth Gonzalez

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Ruth Gonzalez

Music sponsorship specialists MAC Presents has added Operations Manager Ruth Gonzalez to its team. She brings more than fifteen years of experience as a talent agent to the Nashville-based firm, including nine years at Creative Artists Agency in Beverly Hills, where she was responsible for artists including Jesse McCartney and Ashlee Simpson. She also represented all CAA music talent for booking into West Coast territory club venues, as well as Mid South Casino and Performing Arts Centers.

MAC Presents President Marcie Allen Cardwell says she has known Gonzalez since the beginning of her own career in the music industry. Originally from Atlanta, Gonzalez has also worked for the Dark Horse Tavern, The Point, Alienation Inc., and as stage manager for the Music Midtown festival.