Musical Chairs: August 18

ARN EXTENDS JONESY & AMANDA FOR THREE MORE YEARS

Australian Radio Network extended WSFM 101.7 Sydney’s breakfast duo Brendan ‘Jonesy’ Jones and Amanda Keller. The pair has been a team for 12 years at the station.

In recent years, Jonesy & Amanda have topped the FM breakfast slot a number of times, won Best On Air Team at the 2012 and 2014 ACRAs and currently Sydney’s #2FM breakfast team.

ARN CEO Rob Atkinson said: “Investment in people and great talent, in all areas of the company, has always been key to ARN’s continued growth and strong commercial offerings.

“For more than a decade Jonesy and Amanda have been a very important part of ARN’s success, and I am very pleased they will be with us for another three years.”

SPOTIFY ANZ MAKES ANOTHER SENIOR HIRE

Spotify Australia/ New Zealand hired Kate Perry as Group Sales Director for both territories.

She was most recently four years with magazine publisher Bauer Media leading its NSW agency sales team.

NOVA DENIES SAM FROST RUMOURS

Nova Entertainment has squashed rumours that Sam Frost, former 2DAY FM breakfast presenter alongside Rove McManus, is heading their way after SCA cut her adrift late last year when they axed the show.

Seven Network entertainment reporter Peter Ford suggested on The Morning Show that Frost could fill in on Nova 96.9’s Fitzy & Wippa while Sarah McGilvray is on maternity leave.

That’s not true, apparently, after Radio Today double checked with Nova Entertainment.

Back came the reply: “We respect Sam Frost but on the subject of her joining Fitzy & Wippa while Sarah is on maternity leave, that’s news to us.”

GUSTAVO LOPEZ EXITS UNIVERSAL FOR OWN LATIN SERVICE

Gustavo Lopezhas left Universal Music after 21 years to launch his own service company Talento Uno, specialising in Latin music artists.

Lopez was most recently GM/EVP for Universal Music Latin Entertainment, red-hot at the moment with Luis Fonsi & Daddy Yankee’s ’Despacito’.

He has been instrumental in increasing the profile of Latin music long before its current explosion.

He launched Latin-urban label Machete Music and ran UMLE’s regional Mexican labels, Fonovisa and Disa. In 2015, he set up the Latin themed L Festival in LA.

“Talento Uno represents a new model for the Latin music industry,” says Lopez.

“People are connected more now than ever, and Talento Uno is the ecosystem by which artists and business partners can reach fans more successfully.”

TICKETMASTER EXPANDS TO SWITZERLAND

The world’s #1 ticketing agency Ticketmaster has moved into Switzerland, via an alliance with local ticketing firm, tixtec, headed up by industry veteran George Egloff.

Live Nation-owned Ticketmaster sells 530 million primary tickets a year in 30 countries.

ANGELA BRILEY TO CONCENTRATE ON TRIPLE M

Angela Briley is now Triple M Brisbane’s Promotions Director. For the past two years she’s overseen promo duties for both Triple M and B105.

Briley began with SCA in Sydney as an agency sales coordinator and moved to Brisbane in 2014.

WYNNE-JONES AT ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE

After six years at the City of Melbourne-run Arts House where she curated 12 seasons of performances, Angharad Wynne-Jones is joining Arts Centre Melbourne at the end of September.

DOWNTOWN PROMOTES KORAMBLYUM

In the sixth year of her joining Downtown Music Publishing, Senior Director of Business Affairs Bea Koramblyum is promoted to VP of Business Affairs. She will head its business and legal affairs department.

Before Downtown, she handled the day-to-day business affairs of artists such as Kanye West, Raekwon, LL Cool J and Ludacris.

TIM KELLEY TO HEAD A&R AT SRG-ILS

Grammy winning producer and songwriter Tim Kelley, whose collaborations have sold 1 billion over 25 years, is now Head of A&R at North America’s The SRG-ILS Group.

The company was formed in 2017 from a merger by The SoNo Recording Group and The ILS Group.

As one half of the Grammy Award-winning production duoFunktwons, Kelley’s biggest successes have been Boyz II Men’s II (the biggest-selling LP by an R&B group in America),TLC’s CrazySexyCool and Sisqo’s’Thong Song’.

NEW NAMES AT NORPA

New additions to the team at Northern NSW-based theatre company NORPA are producer Jo Porter and Associate Artists Janis Balodis, Jade Dewi, Caroline Dunphy, Darcy Grant, Mitch King, Valley Lipcer, Kate McDowell and Emma Saunders.

LIAM SCULLIN JOINS SEN

Liam Scullin has joined Melbourne sports station 1116 SEN as its Sydney Sales Manager. He brings with him extensive knowledge and brand contacts to what he describes as “one of the most enthusiastic and engaged listener markets – the sports fan.”

FOUR SENIOR HIRES FOR FACEBOOK ANZ’S CREATIVE SHOP

Facebook, which set up Creative Shop in 2011 for creative strategists to support Australian and New Zealand brands, businesses and agencies, continues to grow the business.

Andy Simpson joins as Creative Shop Lead; Dan Walton and Karen O’Leary as Creative Strategists; and Lara Andrews as Creative Research Lead.

ASCAP EXPANDS DIGITAL DELIVERY

As part of its evolving digital strategy ASCAP (the American Society Of Composers, Authors and Publishers) appointed former New York Times digital executive Tristan Boutros as Chief Technology Officer, based in New York.

FOUR RADIO GRADUATES LAND JOBS

Radio Today revealed that four recent RTI graduates have landed employment in the radio sector.

Alex Knock and Eloise Adams are copywriters for ACE Radio in, respectively, Warrnambool and Traralgon.

Jack Missen also got a copywriter gig, at Vision Australia Radio. Nick Feain joined Hit Gippsland’s breakfast show Nick & Mandy.

LLOYD SCOTT SIGNS OFF

After 53 years on New Zealand radio, Lloyd Scotthas signed off. His last role, over the past 13 years, was as All Night Programme co-host on RNZ. The 75-year-old gave up a career in medicine for his love of radio.

SCHAAK, GRIFFIN, JOIN PUBLICISQ

Melbourne singer and musician David Schaak has been hired by Queensland-based creative agency PublicisQ as its first Head of Art.

Lee Griffin, the newly appointed Creative Director, also has music links. He is also Creative Director of drum innovators Mothertone and Americana Music Tours, and spent four years in Nashville.

PARADIGM OPENS TORONTO OFFICE

Paradigm Talent Agency, the US agency which has Australians Vance Joy, Meg Mac and Tash Sultana on its books, has opened an office in Toronto.

Rob Zifarelli will head up the operation alongside fellow agents Adam Countryman and André Guérette.

Zifarelli personally looks after Feist, Vance Joy, Broken Social Scene, Dashboard Confessional, Christine And The Queens and James Vincent McMorrow.