Musical Chairs: April 13

Pandora loses CMO

After joining Pandora in 2011 as Chief Marketing Officer, Simon Fleming-Wood is leaving. This was in the wake of a restructure of the company by founder Tim Westergren which saw him take over as CEO, Sara Clemens upped to COO and Mike Herring made President in addition to his CFO duties.

Westgren said, “As our first CMO, Simon led the development of Pandora’s strong consumer brand while assembling an outstanding team from the ground up. I wish him all the best.” Wood is taking a short break after which

“I’ll be excited to tackle the next great opportunity in my career.”

Capitol makes Keller VP of A&R

Andrew Keller is new Vice President of A&R for Capitol Records. Based in New York, his brief is to sign and develop artists and oversee recording projects for new and established Capitol artists. Keller was previously 13 years at comes Columbia Records, most recently as Director of A&R where he signed Krewella, Dillon Francis, ZHU, MS MR and St. Lucia and worked closely with metal band Bring Me The Horizon on their 2015 album That’s The Spirit.

PowerFM gets new MD

949 PowerFM in Nowra, NSW, gets a new Music Director in Jodie Williams, formerly at ZOOFM in Dubbo. Williams also has an on-air role at her new station.

Jane Holmes leaves the magic

Jane Holmes stunned not just her listeners but her co-host John Blackman, when she announced on air that she is leaving Magic 1278 Melbourne. She called her time there as “the six most amazing years of my life.”

Dan Widdowson leaves Hope again

Dan Widdowson has left Christian station Hope 103.2 Sydney for the third time, this time to become a full time pastor on the Central Coast. He will continue as a youth pastor and directing the Salthouse Theatre Company on the Central Coast. Since his return in 2014 to co-host breakfast, he’s been driving 1½ hours each day to Sydney from the Central Coast and waking at 3 am.

Greg Thompson to lead management powerhouse Maverick

Capitol Music executive Greg Thompson will take over as President of Maverick Music in June to make it more artist-friendly and innovative. Maverick, led by U2 and Madonna’s ten-percenter Guy Oseary, consists of some of the industry’s most powerful managers. Its roster also includes Paul McCartney, Pharrell, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, Britney Spears, T.I., Arcade Fire and Jason Aldean. Thompson most recently headed sales, promotion, marketing, publicity, creative, video and digital production at Capitol Music Group after stints at EMI, Island/Def Jam, Elektra, SBK Records and Chrysalis, where kicked off his career in 1985.

SkyCity CEO Nigel Morrison quits

After eight years as CEO of SkyCity, Nigel Morrison finishes up on April 29. He and SkyCity Chairman Chris Moller first began discussions on a successor seven years ago and decided this was the time. Moller emphasised Morrison had done an “excellent” job including extending casino licences for the company’s Adelaide and Auckland operations and had an international vision for the company.

Morrison’s departure will not affect Adelaide Casino’s $300 million upgrade, to begin early next year and will include a luxury 80-room hotel overlooking the River Torrens.

Argoon moves

Matthew Argoon has joined the commercial production division at Nova 100, moving over from KIIS 101.1.

PledgeMusic announces new CEO

PledgeMusic announced Dominic Pandiscia as its new CEO, while founder Benji Rogers takes on Chief Strategy Officer and will retain a board seat. Unlike its rivals like KickStarter which raise money via fans for projects, the 6 ½ year old PledgeMusic invites fans to get more involved in the creative process. Pandiscia’s career in record companies – he was in sales and marketing at EMI since 1989, created its Label Services and until last September was President of Capitol Music Group’s independent services division Caroline – will mean PledgeMusic can work closer to labels.

Sheridan Stewart moves on

Sheridan Stewart is leaving ABC Mildura-Swan Hill, after taking over in September 2014 as breakfast presenter and Regional Content Manager. Her career began at Fox FM Melbourne over 20 years ago, moved on to FM 104.7 Canberra, MIX 106.5 Sydney and MMM Brisbane before a decade at Triple M Adelaide and a stint as host of national radio countdown Planet Rock.

Selena Gomez takes on Executive Producer role

Singer/actress Selena Gomez will executive produce a series on Freeform (formerly ABC Family. The still-untitled show was inspired by the story of Ana Cobarrubias, an 18-year old Latina who wanted to make a difference to her poor East Los Angeles neighbourhood who is “destined for greatness.”

David Barrett to oversee The Art House

Performing arts performance identity David Barrett is the Executive Director of Wyong, NSW’s new $12.7 million Art House, which opens on April 27. He was previously at the Marion Cultural Centre in South Australia. The Art House includes a state of the art 500-seater with a top end audio system, an LED lighting rig, a motorised fly tower system, a 150-seat studio space and can be reshaped to allow for an orchestra in the theatre or studio.

New editor for Star Observer

LGBTI title The Star Observer’s new editor Corey Sinclair comes from News Corp where he worked in Sydney and Darwin and was Deputy Digital Editor of the NT News. He replaces Elias Jahshan who left in February. The publication also brought in Rad Mitic as Sales Manager.

Director exits iHeartMedia

One of US radio broadcaster iHeartMedia’s Directors, Julia B. Donnelly, resigned from its board, to be replaced by Laura A. Grattan, a director at Boston-based private equity company Thomas H. Lee. The company emphasises Donnelly’s departure is not related to its current plans to restructure to take on its $20.9 billon debt. Last year it generated revenues of $6.5 billion but after paying $1.8 billion in interest repayment, posted a total net loss of $651 million.

Sony Music resurrects metal imprint Music For Nations

Sony Music in the UK has resurrected its heavy metal Music For Nations (MFN) imprint after ten years, and tapped Julie Weir to run it. She has deep roots in the UK heavy rock scene, founding Visible Noise Records in 1998 which discovered Bring Me The Horizon and went on to break Nothing But Thieves. Cradle Of Filth and Bullet For My Valentine.

Crikey names Knowlton as editor

Cassidy Knowlton, Managing Editor of Crikey for the past two years, will take on the position of Editor, replacing Marni Cordell who’s joining Buzzfeed.

Chris Bath takes on ABC drive

Former Seven Network news reader Chris Bath is depping for Richard Glover in the drive shift for three weeks.

Kerrie Mainwaring joins Screentime

Multi-award winning producer Kerrie Mainwaring is now Head of Production – Scripted at Screentime. She was behind TV highs as Peter Allen: Not The Boy Next Door, Catching Milat, INXS: Never Tear Us Apart and the upcoming Brock.