Musical Chairs: Jo Cameron leaving AIR; Layoffs at MTV; New owners for Sydney venue; Mark Hamel heads out on tour

Jo Cameron leaving AIR

After six years, Jo Cameron is leaving AIR for opportunities abroad. Her final day is April 7. AIR is seeking a replacement Membership & Operations Manager with a broad knowledge and passion for the Australian indie music sector, strong event and project management experience, have exceptional communication, networking, organisational and administration skills and able to manage websites, social media assets and communications.

Layoffs at MTV, VHI

In a bid to save $250 million and changing programming to make it more relevant, Viacom is starting to wield at the axe at MTV and VH1 overseas. As part of a restructure which saw departure some weeks ago of Head of Music, Van Toffler, going are producer Jonathan Mussman; Marshall Eisen, SVP of MTV News & Docs; Tony DiBari SVP of series development; and Frank Ho, VP of MTV Music & Talent. Long time Executive Vice President Dave Sirulnick is apparently staying on until his contract runs out.

CEO Philippe Dauman is quoted by Billboard as saying, "Some of the programming that we acquired years ago just doesn't work anymore; particularly, when you have off-broadcast programming that is ubiquitously on SVOD, it's just not playing. So we're going to abandon some of that programming as we go forward and continue to invest in what works."

New owners for Sydney venue

Patrick Coughlan and Rodney Kelly of Riverside acquired the Gladstone Hotel, in Sydney’s Chippendale, which showcased indie acts. The venue has gone through a revamp, and Coughlan confirmed the music will stay.

Mark Hamel heads out on tour

Bundaberg Broadcasters’ Program and Content Director of the past four years, Mark Hamel, left the building to take his family on a 12-month trek around Australia. As reported in TMN, Michael Price is his replacement.

Scott Fitzsimons quits TheMusic.com.au

After ten years as Head Of Digital and Editor of TheMusic.com.au, Scott Fitzsimons has left for a role in the whisky and alcohol industry. He began with Street Press Australia’s Drum Media as music industry columnist.

New ED and board chair at Performance Space

Interdisciplinary arts organisation Performance Space has brought in Terese Casu as Executive Director. She takes over from Steph Walker who held the role for 2 ½ years. Actor and dancer Casu, who joined Circus Oz at 18, was most recently Director, Arts Organisations at the Australia Council for the Arts. Lawyer Jonathan Casson takes over as Chairman of the board from Clare Petre as the sector operates in “a shifting funding and industry climate.”

Sandy Gandy returns to ZM

After an 18-month stint as a Content Director at ZM (New Zealand), Sarah Gandy is back on air on The Hits and Mix. Gandy has been with ZM, starting out as an intern and worked up the programming ladder. ZM’s new Content Director is Ross Flahive who ran Mediaworks’ The Edge radio.