Music Industry Moves: Sally Davies Named Managing Director of Abbey Road Studios
Sally Davies will be the new managing director of Abbey Road Studios, Universal Music UK announced today. Davies joins the team from Vivendi Village, where she was CEO of U-Live, a live promoter, producer and entertainment company.
Davies will report to David Sharpe, Universal Music UK’s chief operating officer, and brings a wealth of music industry experience from her work with iconic venues, theatres, festivals and events to Abbey Road.
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“I’ve known Sally for a long time so it was an easy decision to appoint her to one of the most important leadership positions in our industry, at the forefront of world-class recordings, sound innovation and creative education. Sally balances creativity and business strategy exceptionally well and I couldn’t be happier to welcome her back to the Universal Music family,” said David Joseph, chairman and CEO of Universal Music UK.
The studio, located on the now universally known Abbey Road in north London, has been at the center of significant investment since the 2012 UMG acquisition of EMI. Davies was with U-Live during the company’s three years with Universal Music UK.
“It’s truly an honor and privilege to be taking on the role of Managing Director of Abbey Road Studios, a place of great music and ground-breaking sound,” added Davies. “I’m excited about going on this journey with the fantastic team who have fostered the environment of creativity and innovation, and help make Abbey Road the special place that it is.”
+ Warner Chappell Music (WCM) Mexico has signed chart-topper Yng Lvcas (real name Daniel Oswaldo Donlucas Martínez) to a global publishing deal.
Lvcas is behind “La Bebe (Remix)” with Peso Pluma, a track that has amassed 418 million views on YouTube in only three months since its release. The song is a part of his eight-track corridos EP, “Wup? Mixtape1.” Most recently, David Guetta released his EDM remix of “La Bebe.”
“It is impressive how Daniel’s amazing talent has led him to achieve a global hit at such a young age,” said Carlos Ruíz, managing director of WCM Mexico. “We are very thankful to him and his team for trusting Warner Chappell to accompany him in his journey as a songwriter. His career will be full of hits that will be celebrated as great music born in Mexico for the whole world to hear.”
+ The Gongaware Group has signed DJ, producer and BBC Radio 1 Dance Party host Danny Howard for representation.
Howard currently boasts DJ residencies at Amnesia Ibiza (alongside Gorgon City and Sonny Fodera) and at BCM in Mallorca. Gongaware is aiming to broaden and build Howard’s DJ career in both North and South America.
Howard joins a roster that includes Jax Jones, Sigala, Imanbek, Slushii, Crankdat, Le Youth and NOTD. The British radio personality also leads his own Nothing Else Matters label.
“We are very excited to bring one of dance music’s premier authorities on the culture, sound, and scene over to the Americas and look forward to introducing him to an even wider set of fans in the future,” said the Gongaware Group in a statement.
+ Influence Media Partners has appointed Lisa Licht as chief marketing advisor to oversee the company’s marketing strategy with a focus on strategic partnerships, content development, and public relations. She’ll serve as a liaison to the C-suite and report to Lylette Pizarro, a founder and co-managing partner, Lynn Hazan, a co-managing partner, and Rene McLean, a partner and founding advisor
Licht will assume the new role after three decades of experience in creatively conceptualizing and executing marketing strategies for global organizations including Live Nation, Yahoo, Hasbro, 20th Century FOX, and Mattel.
Additionally, Influence Media executive Nneka Ani was promoted to head of marketing and will report to Licht. Ani will continue to manage corporate communications and develop content properties around cultural moments in partnership with rising acts in their portfolio. Influence Media executive Danny Klotz was also tapped as head of underwriting and will manage the company’s pipeline of deals and run the investment team’s catalog models and projections, financial diligence, contract reviews, and scenario analysis.
Tuesday, July 18
Michele Santucci has joined Verve Label Group (VLG) as the company’s new vice president of streaming to oversee DSP strategies for releases across Verve Records, Decca Records US, Impulse!, and Verve Forecast. Santucci joins with the experience of her previous post at Spotify, where she spent a decade working as a recorded music lead and supervising producer for Spotify Studios.
Verve Label Group, a division of Universal Music Group, is home to Grammy award winners Samara Joy, Jon Batiste and Madison Cunningham, among many others.
“I am extremely excited to join the team at Verve Label Group. Their history and roster are inspirational and I look forward to working with the label and its streaming partners to help build the careers of these great artists,” said Santucci in a statement shared with Variety.
Santucci’s resume includes crafting Spotify’s longest-running Original Music program, Spotify Singles, which crossed the seven billion stream threshold and produced the “Live at Electric Lady” series. Before Spotify, Santucci worked for Sony Music Entertainment, where she launched campaigns for major artists such as Adele, Beyoncé, J Cole, and David Bowie, and others.
“Michele is an exceptional executive with an industry-leading skillset,” said Dickon Stainer, president and CEO of VLG. “She joins VLG at the perfect moment to help our artists and their music navigate the many routes to worldwide discovery, in tandem with our global partners.”
+ ASCAP has tapped Tim Daugherty as senior VP of general licensing. Daugherty will be based in New York City and report to ASCAP executive VP, head of licensing, Stephanie Ruyle.
Daugherty will handle general licensing at ASCAP, which includes bricks and mortar businesses such as restaurants, bars, hotels, airlines, fitness, live music and other establishments. His previous experience includes five years with Vice Media Group, most recently as senior VP of revenue and digital operations.
“Tim is a strategic executive who excels at providing vision that encourages teams and individuals to perform at their highest levels,” said Ruyle. “I’m looking forward to working with Tim to respond to the evolving economic and technology landscape for general licensees and to ensure that ASCAP members are fairly compensated for the public performance of their works.”
+ Sarah Gallagher has been promoted to managing director of Modest! reporting directly to co-founders Richard Griffiths and Harry Magee. Natalie Vassileiou has also been promoted to operations director, working alongside Gallagher to manage the day-to-day operations at Modest!.
Gallagher joined Modest! in 2009 and has since overseen many of the management company’s campaigns, including the continued growth of Olly Murs’ career, as well as two sold-out JLS arena tours. Her music management career began when she was 21 years old, working at Z Management and Xenomania.
+ Universal Music Group (UMG) has upped Manusha Sarawan to the role of managing director for Southern and East Africa. Sarawan will continue to work closely with Adam Granite, UMG’s executive VP of market development, to grow UMG’s roster of artists.
Sarawan has decades of experience working at the intersection of business and creativity including several years at Sony Music in South Africa. Throughout her career, she has held various roles across the music industry, and most recently was chief operating officer at UMG Sub-Saharan Africa, where she oversaw the day-to-day operations of the region’s most prominent major music label.
“This is an incredibly exciting time for African music, as it continues to build new audiences both here and across the world,” said Sarawan. “We have an amazing roster of talent here, and it’s a huge privilege to get to work with our artists and our talented team to promote African music on the world stage.”
+ Sony Music Publishing has promoted Yendi Rodriguez to the role of VP of creative and songwriter services in U.S. Latin.
In this elevated role, Rodriguez will be responsible for expanding support for the U.S. Latin roster with an emphasis on career development, talent discovery, creative collaboration and song placements. She will also continue to liaise across the company’s divisions including administration and synch to further advance songwriter service efforts. Based in Miami, Rodriguez will report to Jorge Mejia, president and CEO of Latin America and U.S. Latin for Sony Music Publishing.
Throughout her tenure, Rodriguez has helped bring such artists on board as Keityn, Bizarrap, Nicki Nicole, the Rude Boyz and Jay Wheeler, and been instrumental in the key renewals of Tainy, Camilo and Farruko, among many others.
+ Audacy has announced Launch, a new music discovery program designed to spotlight emerging artists. Using tools such as broadcast and digital airplay, on-air artist vignettes, digital editorial and engaging social content, Audacy will help introduce new artists to the platform’s millions of listeners and followers. The program commences with three Launch Artists: Jelly Roll, Warren Zeiders and Doechii, all of whom are promoting new singles.
Jelly Roll’s “Need A Favor” will be featured across Audacy’s Hot AC portfolio; Zeiders’ “Pretty Little Poison” will be featured across Audacy’s Country brands, and Doechii’s “What It Is” will be featured across Audacy’s CHR stations nationwide.
“Audacy has continued to be a huge supporter of this single,” said Jelly Roll. “I’m excited to continue my partnership with them and officially be a part of their new Launch program.”
Added Zeiders, “As a dude who wasn’t planning to do this whole thing, I kind of got very blessed, and Audacy has believed in me along the way. The best way to put it is I’m very fortunate and blessed. I think that the good Lord has kept his hand on me and has brought my fans into my life who have supported me since day one, so I’m just super fortunate that I get to say that I’m going to be an artist who is on country radio…growing up listening to the radio, I’m just super grateful.”
“I am honored and can’t thank Audacy enough for this opportunity,” said Doechii. “I have been so excited seeing the response to my record “What It Is” and I can’t wait for it to reach a larger audience.”
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