Member Updates
Music Biz broadcasts the latest announcements from around our community on our social feeds as our member companies continue to push the industry forward. If you are launching a new product, have been featured in an industry trade publication, or have a major announcement coming soon, we’d love to help spread the word — share it with Henryk Bik, Music Biz’s Communications & Content Manager, at henryk.bik@musicbiz.org.
NEW FOR 2024 Music Biz’s member news will be shared exclusively on our social channels, as the Member Updates section of our website is set to go offline later this year.
May 4, 2023 – Music Biz Member OpenPlay Recruits Justin Levenson As Professional Services Product Lead
Asset management platform, OpenPlay has named Justin Levenson the company’s Professional Services Product Lead. In his new role, he will work with OpenPlay’s engineering team, clients and stakeholders to ensure the platform is operating properly, meeting client needs, and designing new features to improve functionality. For over 15 years, Levenson served in both the Licensing and Writer/Publisher Relations departments at SESAC, where he helped engineers build and launch an analytics project that streamlined the company’s licensing process.... Read More
May 3, 2023 – Music Biz Member Downtown Promotes Ben Patterson To President Of Artist & Label Services Division
Downtown has appointed Ben Patterson as President of the company’s Artist & Label Services division. In his new role, Patterson will continue to scale the company’s services to new genres and markets while providing support for marquee artists and labels. With more than 20 years of experience working with artists, Paterson joined Downtown’s COO since 2019 when the company acquired DashGo, the distribution company he founded in 2004. As COO, he grew the company’s business revenues by 250% year-over-year,... Read More
May 1, 2023 – Music Biz Member WMX Launches Visual Podcast Series Exploring Notorious B.I.G’s Final Album
Warner Music’s artist services, media and creative content division, WMX has released a visual podcast series centered around The Notorious B.I.G’s final album, Life After Death. Hosted by radio personality, Angie Martinez, the series, named Iconic Records: Life After Death has launched on The Roku Channel and premiered on Roku’s new WMX Hip-Hop channel. The series features appearances from Hip-Hop artists including Lil Cease, Fat Joe, Pusha T, Rick Ross, Too $hort and more. Viewers can also watch the visual podcast on The Notorious B.I.G’s YouTube Channel and stream the podcast on all major audio podcast platforms now. ... Read More
April 27, 2023 – Music Biz Member Vevo Launches Vevo For Artists Hub
Music video network, Vevo has launched its “Vevo for Artists” hub that will serve as a one-stop-shop for artists and their teams. The initiative will provide in-depth teaching on how to leverage Vevo’s extensive network to multiply growth and maximize exposure. Artists and their team will gain access to the network’s upload process, editorial opportunities, audience viewing habits, sales and research capabilities. Vevo for Artists is now available globally. Click here to read more from Vevo.... Read More
April 27, 2023 – Music Biz Member The Orchard Ups Tricia Arnold To EVP, Global Artist/Label Services & Sales
The Orchard has promoted Tricia Arnold to EVP, Global Artists/Label Services and Sales.In her newly appointed role, she will continue to oversee the company’s global distribution strategy and international sales and label services team. Arnold will report to company President and COO, Colleen Theis. Under Arnold’s direction, The Orchard has achieved global success for high visibility releases across the company’s 45 territories worldwide. She joined The Orchard in 2012 as the European Sales & Distributor Director based in the UK.... Read More
April 26, 2023 – Music Biz Member Concord Promotes Jeff Van Driel To GM of International Operations, John Minch To Advocacy Role
Concord has promoted Jeff Van Driel to General Manager of International Operations; the company also announced that long-time executive and President of International Publishing, John Minch will refocus his efforts in an advocacy role. In Van Driel’s new role, he will relocate from Nashville to London and will be responsible for fulfilling Minch’s music publishing operations duties as well as the European operations of all of Concord’s businesses. He will report to COO, Vic Zaraya. After nearly 25 years at Concord,... Read More
April 25, 2023 – Music Biz Member Universal Music Publishing Strikes Publishing Deal With Songwriter Maggie Rogers
Universal Music Publishing Group has signed an exclusive global publishing deal with songwriter Maggie Rogers. Following the release of her 2017 EP, “Now That The Light Is Fading,” she gained industry recognition and made her mark on the Billboard Heartseakers Album chart. In 2022, Rogers’ second studio album, “Surrender,” co-produced by UMPG songwriter Kid Harpoon, received widespread acclaim and reached #1 on the US Top Tastemaker Albums chart. “Maggie is one of my favorite songwriters,” said Jennifer Knoepfle,... Read More
April 24, 2023 – Music Biz Member Warner Chappell Strikes Global Publishing Deal With Oliver Tree
Warner Chappell has signed a global publishing deal with artist Oliver Tree. With more than two billion streams and one billion streams on his music videos, Oliver Tree hit the UK charts at No. 11 with “Voices,” his collaboration with KSI, hit No. 3 with “Miss You,” a collaboration with Robin Schulz. “We strive to work with artists and songwriters who push boundaries and move our culture forward with their creativity, and that’s exactly what Oliver Tree is doing with his career,” said Ryan Press,... Read More
April 24, 2023 – Music Biz Member Spotify UK Ups Leroy Harris To Head Of Marketing
Spotify UK has promoted Leroy Harris as the company’s Head of Marketing, UK and Ireland. In 2019, Harris joined Spotify as the. Since joining Spotify as Artist Marketing Lead in 2019,, he has led on projects including album campaigns for AJ Tracey, Dua Lipa and Sam Smith, as well as Spotify’s Carnival Sounds hub and RapUK Day 1 Club fan experience. “We’ve tasked him with taking our marketing activity to yet another level and, given Leroy previously held roles leading culture marketing for the likes of Red Bull and ASOS,... Read More
April 21, 2023 – Music Biz Member Universal Music Group Responds To ‘Fake Drake’ AI Track
Universal Music Group has responded to the popular AI-replicated Drake track, “heart on my sleeve,” that has accumulated more than 230,000 plays on YouTube and 625,000 plays on Spotify. The track has since been deleted from streaming platforms. “UMG’s success has been, in part, due to embracing new technology and putting it to work for our artists–as we have been doing with our own innovation around AI for some time already,” stated UMG. “With that said,... Read More
