Steve Murray Takes on New Role at Wasserman
Effective July 15, Steve Murray’s new role as executive VP of mergers & acquisitions and strategy at Wasserman begins after joining the company from Providence Equity Partners. At Providence, Murray served as a principal on the investment team and also collaborated with organizations and companies including Major League Soccer, Warner Music, and the NFL to help lead the firm’s strategic November 2022 investment into Wasserman.
Murray also played a key role in Wasserman’s acquisitions of Brillstein Entertainment Partners and CSM Sport & Entertainment, both in 2023.
Mammoth Launches New Touring Division
Meanwhile, Mammoth, an independent live music company, has unveiled its new Rob Owens and Angela Brown-led touring division. Owens, based in the company’s new Nashville touring office, was named president of Mammoth’s global touring in April 2023. Brown, previously positioned at Live Nation, joined Mammoth last September to serve as President of Global Tour Marketing.
Along with these executive announcements, Mammoth has revealed plans to produce Jamaican dancehall artist Buju Banton’s U.S. tour alongside AG Entertainment Touring, as well as JT’s City Cinderella Tour.
Sony Music Publishing UK Promotes Rob Stratton
At Sony Music Publishing UK, Rob Stratton was promoted to VP of visual & media rights. In this position, Stratton will lead the publisher’s U.K. visual & media efforts to maintain relationships with media production companies and broadcasters. He is set to continue working with Cathy Merenda and the U.S. visual & media rights team to help expand the business globally. Stratton has been with Sony Music Publishing UK since 2014 and previously served as director of visual & media rights.
New Independent Label Artist Theory Launches
Also in the U.K., record executives Jack Melhuish and Nick Burgess launched a new independent label, Artist Theory, in collaboration with the U.K. publisher and indie label B-Unique. Artist Theory’s roster currently includes emerging artists like Gothic pop singer Emily Jeffri and R&B/hip-hop/electronic collective H.LLS, as well as established U.K. rocker Sam Ryder. Both executives arrived from Parlophone, where Melhuish was GM/head of marketing and Burgess was co-president.
Jess Anderson Promoted at Big Loud Records
Jess Anderson was recently promoted to Senior Director of Media at Big Loud Records, effective immediately. Anderson’s work with the Big Loud Roster began in late 2018. She later came in-house with the label in 2021 to help create its 2022 internal publicity roster as director of media relations.
The Big Loud roster consists of HARDY, ERNEST, Morgan Wallen, Lauren Watkins, Charles Wesley Godwin, Stephen Wilson, Jr., and Kashus Culpepper. Prior to Big Loud Records, Anderson’s career included working with The Press House, Sweet Talk Publicity, and Big Machine Label Group.
Linlin Chen to Resign from Tencent Music Entertainment Group
Tencent Music Entertainment Group’s (TME) group VP Linlin Chen will resign from this and other positions at the Chinese company due to personal reasons on Sept. 30.
Cussian Pang, TME’s executive chairman, stated “On behalf of the Company, we would like to extend our gratitude to Ms. Chen for her dedicated service at TME. We appreciate her continuous hard work and commitment, which greatly contributed to the success of Kugou Music, one of China’s leading music streaming platforms. We respect her decision and wish her all the best in all her future endeavors.”
Roman Tagoe Joins Chrysalis Records as Director of Streaming
Blue Raincoat Music, an artist management company, record label, and music publisher, named Roman Tagoe as Chrysalis Record’s new director of streaming. He is to be based at the company’s London office and report to James Meadows, senior VP of marketing. Previously, Tagoe served as director of streaming for global catalog recordings at BMG. He is now set to oversee the success of the company’s frontline and catalog artists on streaming platforms.
