Musical Chairs: June 8
Sarah Breese joins BMGAustralia
Sarah Breese(pictured) has become the first hire at BMG Rights Management Australia, based at its Sydney office as Senior Royalties/Copyright Manager.
Breese worked for 3 ½ years at the company’s Berlin office, beginning as Junior Royalties Accounting Manager, Manager Royalties Projects & Analysis and Manager Global Royalty Services & Standards.
She moved to Sydney in 2014 and had stints with Bauer Media Australia and Music Sales.
SCA loses Richard Barker (to rugby)…
Richard Barker has quit as General Manager for SCA’s Brisbane brands, Hit105 and Triple M. He’s in fact left the radio industry, having taken over as CEO of the Queensland Rugby Union.
Barker says he’s had two passions in life, radio and rugby. “After spending the 30 years of my working career on the first, I have now been given the unique opportunity to pursue the second.”
… and Nick Scott
SCA is also losing Nick Scott, GM of the Gold Coast’s Sea FM, Gold FM and the SCA TV brands. Scott has been part of the Gold Coast operations since 1981 in a number of roles including National Sales Director, Group General Manager and GM of Gold Coast twice. He already has a new role to be announced in August. He finishes as GM on July 1 but will remain in a part-time capacity through to December, assisting with overseeing key client and community relationships with SCA in the region.
Osbourne, Scherzinger, Walsh back at X Factor UK
To try and stem falling ratings, Sharon Osborne, Nicole Scherzinger and music manager Louis Walsh are being brought back to the judging panel of the 13th season of X Factor UK alongside Simon Cowell. They replace Rita Ora, Cheryl Fernandez-Versini and Nick Grimshaw. Last season’s finale ratings were its lowest, despite guest appearances by Adele, One Direction and Coldplay
New booker for venue
Melbourne’s Bar Open announced on its Facebook that Dannie McKenzie, of The Woohoo Revue, is its new booker.
Grant Broadcasters opts for regional content
Grant Broadcasters has created four new state-based Regional Content Director roles. They are occupied by Dean Kesby (NSW) Mark Hyland (Victoria & South Australia), Ross Turner (Queensland & the Northern Territory) and Allan Cameron (Tasmania).
As a result of the restructure, Group CD David Rogerson will leave at the end of the month after four years at the role.
Verve GM exits
Mike Rittberg, GM at Verve Records, has left the label. He had the role for 18 months after being at Verve for four years. He was previously SVP of Promotion at Warner Bros.
CISAC re-elects Jean-Michel Jarre its President
The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers (CISAC) re-elected electronic music producer and performer Jean-Michel Jarre as its President. Since taking that role in 2013, he has spoken often and passionately about artist rights and lifted CISAC’s global profile.
Vice Presidents are singer-songwriter Angélique Kidjo from Benin, award-winning Chinese film director, scriptwriter and producer Jia Zhang-ke, Argentinean director Marcelo Piñeyro and Senegalese sculptor Ousmane Sow.
CISAC was established in Paris in 1926 to represent the interests of authors the collective management of rights. It has 230 members representing over four million creators from all artistic fields: music, audiovisual, drama, literature and visual arts. APRA is its Australian representative on the board.
YouTube Hits! loses radio tie-up
Michael Beveridge and Marty Smiley’s YouTube Hits! will cease broadcasting on Southern Cross Austereo’s 55 national stations but continues online to its 29,000 viewers.
Viacom promotes Chris McCarthy
Chris McCarthy, GM of VH1 and Logo, is now President of the two Viacom-owned brands. Since he took over at VH1 last August, it’s shown four consecutive quarters of growth, rising 48%. Fuelling the growth were the return, or introduction, of shows as America’s Next Top Model, The Amber Rose Show, hip-hop drama The Breaks and Hip Hop Honors.
“Within a remarkably short time, Chris has driven record growth across all screens and done an incredible job of reinventing the VH1 brand, bringing the focus back to its rich pop culture heritage,” Viacom President Doug Herzog said. “Chris is a smart and strategic leader who thinks from an ‘audience first’ perspective, leading to highly impressive results.”
Changes at Rebel FM
Rebel FM The Rock Station in the Northern Gold Coast is looking for replacement for two of its on-air slots. Dave Holleran is moving from his breakfast slot with Ash Palmero after five years to spend more time developing Rebel’s rock music specials. The station is also filling the vacancy left after Jake Chapman returned to work in the family business in Far North Queensland.
Peter Stevens joins Moshcam
Peter Stevens is joining Moshcam, leaving his role as Music and Content Director at Sydney-based SMA Entertainment this Friday. His replacement at SMA is Mary Laktaridis.
Dockland Studios welcomes new Chair
Victoria’s Minister for Creative Industries Martin Foley announced David Hanna as the new Chair of the Docklands Studio board. He is currently Director of Business Strategy at Monash University and worked in the public sector in Victoria and Canberra, and parts of Asia, in the past 30 years.
Joel Noble new SBS Head of Creative Services
SBS appointed Joel Noble as Head of Creative Services in the marketing team, replacing Nol Davis who has returned to the UK with his family. Noble was most recently at Collude Creative, where he was Director for three years. At his new gig, he leads the creative services and output for SBS Marketing, including promotion, advertising and brand communications for its programs and platforms.
Two execs leave Twitter
As its share price drops to $15 from #37 a year ago, Twitter has parted ways with two major executives. Gone are one-time CEO of Ticketmaster Neil Hubbard who lead the commerce team, and Jana Messerschmidt, who headed the global business. Their jobs will be amalgamated under Ali Jafari, the Head of Revenue in business development.
New hire for Kite Communications
As sister companies Kite Communications and the Sefiani agency move into the Brisbane market, Patrice Pandeleos joins Kite as GM from Carat media agency. Agency founder and current GM Heather Mollins takes on the role of Associate Director to work both companies’ move into the Queensland capital.
First editor for Periscope
The live-streaming app Periscope hired Evan Hansen as its first Editor in Chief, where he will curate the best feeds and surface the most interesting content. He leaves behind a similar position at Medium and previously was at Wired.com.
Salmon places bet on Radio TAB
David Salmon has taken over as GM of Brisbane-based Radio TAB which covers Qld, NT, SA and Tasmania. Previously working in radio and TV in NSW and Queensland, he replaces Steve Cairns who died suddenly last year.
Julian Donaldson joins Perth Theatre Trust board
One-time General Manager of the Perth International Arts Festival (PIAF) Julian Donaldson has been appointed to the board of the Perth Theatre Trust. He is currently CEO of the National Trust of Australia (WA). Culture and the Arts Minister John Day cited his “significant arts management expertise” for the appointment.
Perth Theatre Trust is responsible for the management of the State Theatre Centre of WA, His Majesty’s Theatre, Subiaco Arts Centre and the Albany Entertainment Centre. It is also responsible for the lease of the Perth Concert Hall.
Zoe McLaughlin heads to Bundaberg
Zoe McLaughlin has moved from Brisbane to Bundaberg to work in the newsroom of Hitz 939 and Classic Hits 4BU. She replaces Paige Ashby who now does television news at WIN Hervey Bay.