Musical Chairs: March 23

Spotify appoints new General Counsel

With plans to expand into more territories and finalise more licensing deals with the global music industry, Spotify has a new General Counsel Horacio Gutierrez, who specialises in intellectual property law. Gutierrez was previously in the same role at Microsoft, where he’d been for 17 years before taking his latest position last November.

Major changes at 96Five

96Five Brisbane are down in ranks after the departures of CEO Brett McLeod, Content Director / breakfast host Liam Renton and drive co-host Paul Burns. Phil Gray is acting CEO while a recruitment search begins. Steve Lanzon, with a background in commercial radio in NSW and Queensland, is new breakfast co-host with Robbie Parkin. Producer Nicky Becker joins Ken Green on drive.

More radio names expand to TV

More radio names are expanding to TV. Nova’s Fitzy & Wippa are the new hosts of the rebooted pop culture comedy countdown TV show 20 to 1. Wippa said, “Every NYE for the past decade I’ve been counting down from 10 and it’s never felt like enough. Finally a proper countdown and you can try and kiss the person next to you when you get to number 1…Fitzy has soft lips.”

KIIS Network’s Kate Langbroek has signed up to co-host new Channel 9 show Unreal Estate, which looks at the homes of wealthy Australians. She began on the small screen in 1998 in Ten’s The Panel.

Pandora’s Tom Conrad joins Snapchat

Pandora’s Chief Technical Officer and Executive VP of Product Tom Conrad, who left the company two years ago after a decade there, has surfaced at Snapchat as Product VP. He joins at a time when Snapshot is expanding from just mobiles only to delivering on the traditional web, which it did with red carpet arrivals and acceptance speeches during the Oscars. Snapchat has over 100 million daily active users watching 8 million videos on its app.

Bruce Milne buys into Greville Records

Melbourne identity Bruce Milne has become a co-owner of the 35-year-old Prahran-based vinyl store Greville Records, alongside founder Warwick Brown. Milne founded Au Go Go Records and ground breaking cassette magazine Fast Forward, presented on Triple R and owned The Tote venue. It’s not vinyl enthusiast Milne’s first time in retail: Au Go Go began as a store, and he worked at Greville Records in the early’ 80s.

Adam Waldock exiting radio

Adam Waldock, long time Executive Producer for Ash, Kip and Luttsy at Nova Brisbane, exits radio at the end of the month. He takes over at the Mental Illness Fellowship of Queensland as Marketing and Communications Head. He leaves with the show at #1, after he oversaw 500 shows.

Fulton at Hot Tomato

Matthew Fulton, who made a name for himself at Triple M Brisbane is new Imaging Producer at Hot Tomato on the Gold Coast.

New role for Dave Stretton

Dave Stretton has begun as Content Director at 2ST and Power FM in Nowra, NSW. Multiple radio awards winner Stretton was nine years at i98FM Wollongong, began his career in Toowoomba almost 25 years ago, worked in Sydney with MIX 106.5 and spent about 17 years on different stations in Wollongong.

Higgins joins Hemmes’ group

Debbie Higgins is new Group General Manager – Events at Merviale Group, a hospitality company run by Justin Hemmes whose music venues include Chinese Laundry, Slip Inn, The Estabishment, Newport Hotel and The Hemmesphere. “The group’s business culture and strong desire to be the world’s best was inspiring and something I could not wait to be a part of,” Higgins said.

Higgins recently returned to Sydney from eleven years in the UK where she held executive hospitality positions at Chelsea Football Club, Hilton Hotel London and the 02 Arena.

Free TV CEO Julie Flynn retiring

Free TV CEO Julie Flynn told the association’s board she is retiring in July after 15 years at its helm. Since her appointment in February 2001, the one-time political journalist oversaw the transition to digital from analogue, drove the public policy debate on the need for regulatory and commercial changes (including reduced licence fees) as the free-to-air TV sector faced challenges from global media players.

Free TV Chairman Harold Mitchell hailed Flynn as “a remarkably effective participant and advocate in a complex area of public policy” and her leadership as” valued highly across the industry and her work is respected by broadcasters, regulators and politicians from all sides of politics.”