Musical Chairs: Has Apple poached again from BBC?; New CEO for Vevo; ArtsACT Director retiring; Felicity Urquhart back on ABC; Jason Dundas hosting MTV show

Has Apple poached four BBC Radio producers?

After poaching BBC DJ Zane Lowe in March to curate its upcoming streaming service, it seems Apple has gone after four other BBC Radio 1 producers. They are reportedly Lowe’s former producer James Bursey, Huw Stephens' producer Natasha Lynch and BBC Introducing exec Kieran Yeates. They’re expected to remain in London while Lowe, who is also playing a major role in reconfiguring iTunes Radio, moved to America.

New CEO for Vevo

Six-year-old online video platform Vevo appointed Erik Huggers as President and CEO. Huggers has a track record of innovation at Verizon, BBC, Microsoft and Endemol Entertainment. He will focus on innovation, programming, branding and building partner relationships.

ArtsACT Director David Whitney retiring

David Whitney, Director of Canberra-based government agency artsACT is retiring mid-year. After running the organisation since 2007, he thinks it's time for “new blood”. Whitney turns 60 this year. He will stay on until the ACT Government finishes a review of its Arts Policy Framework in June. Whitney held roles at the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust and then helmed the Araluen Centre for Arts and Entertainment in Alice Springs.

Felicity Urquhart back on Saturday Night Country

After a two year break to devote to her young family, Felicity Urquhart(pictured) is back hosting ABC Local Radio’s Saturday Night Country. New segments to be introduced in 2015 include a weekly live-in-the-studio session.

Sydney Festival announces board members

In its 40th year, Sydney Festival ​has a new board of directors. Last year it decided to drop its governance structure for an independent board to facilitate autonomous relationships with stakeholders. Board member Sam Weiss is Chair. Directors Simon Corah and Matthew Melhuish remain. New appointments are Prof. Larissa Behrendt, David Borger, Paddy Carney, Angela Clark, Darren Dale, Ashley Dawson-Damer AM, Diana Eilert and David Kirk. The NSW Government and City of Sydney continue as stakeholders.

Virginia Trioli to chair Gertrude Contemporary board

Long time ABC broadcaster Virginia Trioli is new Chairperson of Gertrude Contemporary's board. Passionate about the arts, Trioli was part of the cultural institution when it launched in the early 1980s, and returns as it moves into a new home and expands its programs.

Twitter promotes Director of Music

Twitter has installed one of its UK executives as Director of Music in the US. Sunil Singhvi was Head of Entertainment in London.

Jason Dundas hosting MTV dance show

One time MTV Australia VJ Jason Dundas is new host of MTV’s America's Best Dance Crew: Road To The VMAs. Since moving to Los Angeles, he co-hosted VH1’s Big Morning Buzz Live, MTV America’s Beyond Dance and was ‘special correspondent’ for CBS’ Entertainment Tonight.

ABC’s Julia Christensen departs radio

After 29 years presenting and breaking stories on ABC Local Radio Northern Territory, Julia Christensen is retiring from radio. When she arrived in Australia, she worked in various jobs. “I never thought I’d end up on radio, that was a happy accident,” she says.

Jimi Love exits Light FM

Melbourne’s Light FM nighttime announcer Jimi Love has left the station after two years, announcing on twitter he’s now "onto new adventures."

Tony McGinn expands Movideo team

MCM Media founder Tony McGinn expanded his current company Movideo’s global leadership team with two newly created roles. Ashok Seshadri, coming from 14 years in the technology sector, is Director of Product. Yogaesh Ramasundaram, with 11 years in IT (including Samsung Music) joins as Director of Engineering. Both will be based in Melbourne.

Their appointments follow the March arrival of Steven Kopec from Turner Broadcasting Inc. as Director of Customer Success.

France’s TV5MONDE is the latest media group to join Movideo platform’s for OTT alongside Disney, Turner, Astro, Samsung, Nextmedia, BHD and SPH.

Feast Festival makes Catherine Fitzgerald role redundant

Adelaide queer festival Feast made Catherine Fitzgerald’s role of Artistic Director redundant. The event (which began in 1997) lost money over the past two years. It will “change this year’s program from a fully curated model to a mix of registered events.” Fitzgerald joined two years ago and helmed the 2013 and 2014 events. Last year it increased its attendance to 44,000 and won the Adelaide City Council’s Community Event of the Year. In a protest at the changes, Matt Gilbertson (cabaret performer Hans) quit the Feast board.

PledgeMusic reaches out to artists

PledgeMusic appointed Chris Hueston as Head of Artist Solutions to reach out to North America’s artist community. He worked with The White Stripes, The Raconteurs, Moby and The Chemical Brothers. He will advise acts on options and strategies. It is part of PledgeMusic’s expansion from crowd-funding to manufacturing, fulfillment and distribution for musicians.

Sony’s David Hargreaves heads to Topfield

David Hargreaves, ex-Sony Australia GM of Consumer AV-IT Sales, is National Sales and Marketing Manager at set to boxes maker Topfield. Set to boxes face a huge demand as consumers switch to streaming and bundling.

Ex-Deezer UK MD joins 7digital

Former MD of Deezer UK and Ireland, Mark Foster, now CEO of Arts Alliance, joined 7digital as non-executive director. Foster also served as consultant in digital strategy and marketing consultancy for the music industry including IFPI, PPL indie labels and retailers.

New CeBIT Australia boss announces new team

Long time events manager Harvey Stockbridge is new Managing Director of enterprise tech events CeBIT Australia, taking over from Jackie Taranto who held the role for 14 years. The former MD of Informa Exhibitions Australia has brought with him Bruce Evans as Project Director. The teams dealing with the Government and PR have new faces too. CeBIT Australia is currently holding its annual exhibit with 400 exhibitors including 88 start-ups.

Changes at top for MFA awards

The 2015 MFA (Media Federation of Australia) Awards in October in Sydney will be chaired by GroupM’s Greg Graham (taking over from Brett Dawson) and Initiative’s Sean Richardson as Vice Chair.

New EP at Exit Films

New Executive Producer at Henrik Dannerfjord’s TVC making Exit Films is Kim Wildenburg. She recently returned to Sydney after eleven years in Los Angeles managing a team of directors, designers, editors and animators at Mill’s and running the LA office of Psyop.