Sony/ATV Co-President Danny Strick Exits Company (EXCLUSIVE)

Jem Aswad and Shirley Halperin
·4 min read

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Danny Strick, Sony/ATV Music Publishing co-president and a longtime lieutenant of former chairman Martin Bandier, has left the company, Variety has confirmed. Former co-president Rick Krim left the company last year.

“With fondness and appreciation for his many contributions, I am sharing the news that Danny Strick is leaving the company,” chairman Jon Platt wrote in a note to the company’s staff. “When I came on board, Danny graciously agreed to maintain his leadership role in the U.S. and help with the transition. His counsel and expertise have been invaluable over the last 10 months and I am immensely grateful for his collaboration. Danny’s notable accomplishments during his tenure as one of the most senior creative executives at the company include major signings across multiple genres. He has worked closely with a winning team to attract and develop top-tier songwriters and producers, such as Jonas Brothers, Sarah Bareilles, A$AP Rocky, Alessia Cara, Fall Out Boy, Pitbull and G-Eazy, among many others.

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“Track-record aside…as his colleagues, we know Danny to be an all-around class act. Let’s please show our appreciation for Danny’s 15 years of service to Sony/ATV and wish him all the best.”

Strick declined comment via a Sony/ATV rep. While his next move is not clear, it would not be a surprise to see him joining Bandier’s next venture, which has not been announced but has been in the works for several months.

Based in New York, Strick joined Sony/ATV in 2004 and was appointed to the role of president in 2007 (a title he later shared, first with West Coast-based Jody Gerson and then Krim); he also headed up the company’s Latin and Nashville divisions, scoring a huge success in the former division with Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee’s 2017 global smash “Despacito.” He joined the company after four years as a senior A&R executive at Maverick Records, where he signed Michelle Branch. He was previously president of BMG songs, a role he held from 1996-2000.

The move is the latest in chairman/CEO Jon Platt’s reorganization of the company’s ranks. New executives include Rusty Gaston as CEO in Nashville, Adrian Nunez as Vice President, Creative A&R, and 20th Century Fox veteran Cathy Merenda as Senior Vice President, Broadcast and Media Rights. Krim and communications head Paul Williams both left the company last year, with the latter being replaced by Dana Baxter.

Sources say Platt has also prioritized upgrades to SCORE, software that offers transparency to songwriters and faster access to their earnings (the only company to expedite foreign royalty payments), and, not least, his first priority as incoming CEO last April was to address pay disparities at the company by having all employees participate in the bonus pool derived from Sony/ATV’s acquisition of EMI Music Publishing. Initially, the pool was split between Bandier and several top executives.

Platt has also brought a pair of superstars with whom he’s long been associated to Sony/ATV: Beyonce and Rihanna.

As the world’s top music publisher. Sony/ATV is home to hits by Frank Sinatra, the Beatles, Taylor Swift and Sia. Sony/ATV was ASCAP’s 2019 publisher of the year for pop. The company has led music-publishing market share in every quarter except one since 2013. It vaulted from fourth to first after the Bandier-helmed 2012 acquisition of EMI Music Publishing — where both he and Platt were top executives for many years — which brought it many valuable copyrights, including Jobete, the publishing wing of Motown Records .

More to come …

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