Whitis
SOUNDSTRIPE has promoted Dir. of Engineering JACK WHITIS to VP/Engineering. Remaining in SOUNDSTRIPE’s NASHVILLE office, WHITIS will continue to oversee the team of software engineers and user interface designers that develop the company's digital products, focusing on technology strategy and growth.
“JACK has been an invaluable asset to the team at SOUNDSTRIPE for the last two years,” said SOUNDSTRIPE Co-Founder/CTO TREVOR HINESLEY. “As we continue to innovate on behalf of our customers and evolve our technology, JACK’s technical expertise, operational excellence, and uniquely suited domain knowledge will play an even more important part in our strategic growth.” more »
Diaz
Former RED BULL RECORDS VP/Global Digital Account Management ZACH DIAZ joins SOUNDSTRIPE as Head of Streaming. With his experience at RED BULL RECORDS, as well as SONY MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT’s RED DISTRIBUTION and THE ORCHARD, DIAZ will oversee SOUNDSTRIPE's, relationships with digital service providers such as SPOTIFY, APPLE MUSIC, and AMAZON MUSIC.
DIAZ's career has spanned the independent distribution and label space while working with all major digital music services especially the subscription-based model. While at RED BULL RECORDS, he worked closely with a wide array of artists of varying genres, including AWOLNATION, THE ACES, ALBERT HAMMOND JR., BEARTOOTH, and BLXT. more »
VO/Imaging/Branding branding pro JOE EARL WILLIAMS adds LOTUS RADIO CORP Classic Rocker KOZZ/RENO, NV to his growing roster of stations.
JOE EARL WILLIAMS is represented exclusively by HOSS & HOSS MANAGEMENT GROUP - hoss@hossmgmt.com and (646)-300-0037.
Premiere
The NAB SHOW is delayed until OCTOBER 9-13 this year, but the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTERS is trying to fill the APRIL void with "NAB SHOW PREMIERE," an online event APRIL 12-23 at the NAB AMPLIFY portal.
The event will include new product announcements and demonstrations from vendors including SONY, PANASONIC, and GRASS VALLEY, plus panels on streaming, broadcasting during the pandemic, tech sessions on HD RADIO and edge computing, and networking, plus a session with the editors for the SNYDER Cut of "JUSTICE LEAGUE." The TV Chairman's Award and the CRYSTAL RADIO AWARDS will also be held at the virtual event. more »
New Team Members
The MECHANICAL LICENSING COLLECTIVE adds three new members to its leadership team in NASHVILLE, Chief Legal Officer KRISTEN JOHNS, Assistant General Counsel – Publisher Relations NATHAN OSHER and Head of Analytics and Automation ANDREW MITCHELL.
MECHANICAL LICENSING COLLECTIVE CEO KRIS AHREND commented, "I am thrilled to welcome KRISTEN, NATHAN, and ANDREW to The MLC’s growing team. Each of them possesses many years of experience in their respective areas of expertise, which will enable them to begin contributing immediately to the important work we are doing. All three are fully committed to serving our members and fulfilling our important mission to ensure that our members are paid properly.” more »
New Production Music Label
Independent music production music library MEGATRAX has just launched its first, brand-new label in five years in SYNC HERO, created for in-show TV use. The new label features underscores and beds perfect for scene-setting and storytelling – a valuable tool for any producer, creator or sound editing professional.
SYNC HERO is a dependable ally for reality TV, game shows, competitions, investigative news and sports, offering a wide variety of genres and styles from the get-go. “Cool, Calm and Collected,” one of the first albums released on the SYNC HERO label is a collection of laid back, smooth and sultry R&B tracks.
The album “Exploring Wilderness” is described as “dark and suspenseful wild tribal percussion beds, while “Electronic Lifestyles” tracks are “energetic, youthful EDM with an international flair.”
Rounding third and heading for home, The Ratings Experts from RESEARCH DIRECTOR, INC., along with the clean-up hitters from XTRENDS, (can you tell we’re ready for some baseball?) bring you our final installment of how FEBRUARY turns. This survey ran from 2/4 through 3/3. It featured a long holiday weekend, that big game, some unusual weather activity, and – most notably to our industry – the passing of radio icon RUSH LIMBAUGH. Let’s see what the numbers have to say about that.
MIAMI-FT.LAUDERDALE-HOLLYWOOD: The Big Easy
Last survey, COX MEDIA AC WFEZ (EASY 93.1) and COX MEDIA Urban AC WHQT (HOT 105FM) were the 6+ co-leaders. That dynamic changed in a hurry. WFEZ remained on the top rung with a huge share increase (7.6-9.1) – by far its best book in over a year. The station also became the cume leader (776,800-871,100) – an increase of 12.1%. The market was up by a mere 0.1%. WHQT stepped back to #2 (7.6-7.6) but remained well clear of the two stations at #3. UNIVISION Spanish Contemporary WAMR (AMOR 107.5) remained in place (6.0-5.6) while ENTERCOM AC WLYF (101.5 LITE FM) moved up from #5 (5.7-5.6). SBS Spanish Contemporary WCMQ (Z92.3) slipped to #5 (5.8-5.4). more »
BILLBOARD reported, according to the INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE PHONOGRAPHIC INDUSTRY's (IFPI) "Global Music Report 2021", despite the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, worldwide music sales grew for the sixth year in a row. Total revenues increased 7.4% to $21.6 billion. A major part of that increase was streaming with its 19.9% increase in the total of 443 million paid users and advertising revenue to $13.4 billion, that is 62% of all recorded music sales minus a 4.7% decrease in physical sales, a 10% drop in performance rights revenues and a 9.4% drop in syc rights income.
In the report's foreword, IFPI Chief Executive FRANCES MOORE stated, "These are not easy times, but the music community with its creativity, innovation, and determination continues to drive forward, to an even greater future," said. She said the rise in revenues at a time of global crisis highlighted "the enduring power of music to console, heal and lift our spirits."
Ford
RADIO WORKFLOW makes changes in leadership, CEO FLETCHER M. FORD, Director of Sales ROBERT MASCHIO, and Director of Product SHANE ZAMMIT. FORD joined RADIO WORKFLOW in 2020 as a partner. RADIO WORKFLOW has expanded its sales and support offices in BILLINGS, MT, DAVENPORT, IA, NEW JERSEY, and AUSTRALIA for its browser-based traffic, billing platform, and the upcoming MyRadioDeals.com.
ROBERT MASCHIO commented on the changes, “I am very excited about the staff additions and the growth of the company. It’s exciting to bring on FLETCHER, his expertise in Radio and customer relationship building are second to none! He will definitely be a valuable asset to our company.” more »
Pollstar Presents Production Live!
ROADIES OF COLOR UNITED INTERNATIONAL conceived to help promote a more diverse and inclusive live entertainment production industry, will launch a day of production-centric programming for PRODUCTION LIVE! 2021, set for JUNE 15th at the BEVERLY HILTON in LOS ANGELES.
PRODUCTION LIVE! begins three days that will be the epicenter for the return of the post-pandemic live entertainment industry, including the 32nd POLLSTAR LIVE! (JUNE 16th-17th) conference.
ROADIES OF COLOR UNITED co-founders, production manager/tour manager BILL REEVES, production stage manager LANCE “K.C.” JACKSON, and TOUR FORENSICS’ DAVE “5-1” NORMAN will be joined by UILMA SOUND PRODUCTIONS LTD's REBEKAH FOSTER and TF TOURS' TINA FARRIS to explore "ROADIES OF COLOR/ Inclusivity On The Road And At The Show," a candid discussion on the critical issue of a lack of diversity in live entertainment. more »
The LOS ANGELES-based digital rights technology company PEX has hired music industry veteran and PHO LIST co-founder JIM GRIFFIN for the position of VP/Digital Rights. He will contribute his copyright, metadata, and music licensing expertise to PEX and its clients.
GRIFFIN co-founded the PHO LIST over 20 years ago as a weekly meeting to discuss the digital delivery of art and music. His career spans digital networks, music, and data serving as CTO of GEFFEN RECORDS, CEO of CHERRY LANE DIGITAL, and President of NETWORK LICENSING at WARNER MUSIC GROUP. He was a consultant and advisor to NOKIA, WIPO, and SOUNDEXCHANGE. He was an expert witness on copyright issues before the US SENATE and HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE. more »
Martini
Effective immediately, music industry veteran ANTHONY MARTINI takes over as CEO of ROYALTY EXCHANGE, replacing founding CEO MATTHEW SMITH, who will remain as Chairman. MARTINI will lead ROYALTY EXCHANGE's 27,000 registered investors with its new section called The eXchange, where artists set their prices for their catalogs and get offers directly from potential investors.
“I’m incredibly happy that we found ANTHONY and that he agreed to step into the CEO role,” said ROYALTY EXCHANGE founder and chairman MATTHEW SMITH. “He has the experience, vision, drive, and relationships—not to mention charisma—to lead ROYALTY EXCHANGE into its next chapter.” more »
Jinny & John Laderer: The Next Stage
vCREATIVE Co-Founder/CEO JINNY LADERER is stepping down from that post, with President/COO SUSIE HEDRICK named CEO. LADERER will transition to President Emerita on APRIL 1st, with co-founder/CTO JOHN LADERER continuing to serve the company in a consultative technical role.
HEDRICK, who joined vCREATIVE in FEBRUARY, 2019, has more than 25 years of experience in media technology and prior to joining vCREATIVE, held executive roles at MARKETRON and WIDEORBIT.
Said HEDRICK, “JINNY and I share a kindred spirit. We both have a strong work ethic and passion for helping people and solving problems. She will continue to have a strong influence on the company as we continue to innovate and grow.” more »
Giacomelli
SOCAST has hired veteran broadcast sales leader, VICTOR GIACOMELLI as MD/Advertising and Research. GIACOMELLI brings 28 years of sales and senior management experience in the radio broadcast industry. He spent the last years as DoS/SVP/Revenue for WBLS (HOT97)/NEW YORK CITY. He has held management roles at all levels in NORTH AMERICAN radio including RSM, GSM, DoS, VP/Sales, and GM. At SOCAST, GIACOMELLI will oversee the digital advertising sales training, and support for SOCAST’s broadcast partners.
“As an Executive VP of Sales, I was SOCAST’s first client in 2012 our Interactive Team was recognized with the President's Award for the launch of their 39 SOCAST sites,” said GIACOMELLI. “Since then, they’ve built an impressive suite of digital solutions for over 1300 radio stations, especially their ad extension platform. I’ve spent my career being an advocate for radio and connecting their audiences to local businesses and I look forward to helping our radio partners grow with our platform.” more »
The BENZTOWN ST. PATRICK’S Day Audiopack is designed to set the mood on-air with over 20 sound effects and musicbeds: glass clinking, beer drinking, pub crawling, partying, IRISH pipes and flutes.
The AUDIOPACK is FREE for Stations to download now through WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17th.
For more information, contact SUSAN AKSU at BENZTOWN sa@benztown.com or (818) 842-4600.
