Priya Minhas joined Love Renaissance (LVRN) as director of creative content.
Minhas previously served as a senior producer at Vevo where she produced and directed original content with both rising and established artists. She worked on visual campaigns for artists like Billie Eilish and Ella Mai, and was responsible for developing short-form content franchises like the company’s “dscvr” and “Footnotes” series featuring Pop Smoke, Ari Lennox, 24kGoldn, Cardi B, Justin Bieber and many more.
“I’ve admired what LVRN have been building from afar for a while now, especially their dedication to artist development,” said Minhas. “They are writing a new blueprint for artists and music executives alike and I’m excited by their vision for r&b and the opportunity to become part of such a forward-thinking creative team.”
Based in Atlanta, LVRN serves as a record label, full-service management team, and growing multimedia company for the next generation of hip-hop and R&B artists. They are currently expanding female leaders within their divisions to help support their all-star roster featuring Summer Walker, 6LACK, Shelley FKA DRAM, BRS Kash and more.
The Artist Rights Alliance (ARA) announced that executive director Ted Kalo is stepping down. Kalo will still be involved in the selection of his successor, acting as an advisor to the organization in the future.
“It has been an honor to serve the Artist Rights Alliance and to fight for a better future for the musicians and songwriters it represents,” says Kalo. “What makes ARA unique is that it is run by artists advocating for their fellow artists – a factor that made my five years serving as Executive Director particularly special. I am forever indebted to ARA’s artist-run board for their guidance, insight, and friendship. I look forward to the organization’s continued growth and success advocating for a more sustainable music economy that better supports the people who make the music we love.”
During his time at ARA, Kalo established an executive board of musicians and creators and named over 80 artist advisors. He oversaw campaigns and efforts that improved the current climate for musicians and artists, challenged unfair practices and advocated for securing fair pay for creators. Kalo also organized a campaign in which he pressured politicians to obtain permission before using artists’ music in political ads and events, recruiting big names like Mick Jagger, Steven Tyler, Lorde and others to sign off on a letter to Congress.
“Ted’s decision to step down as Executive Director of Artist Rights Alliance is a significant loss for our organization,” board member Rosanne Cash said. “His brilliance in matters of policy and law, coupled with his patient guidance and unwavering vision, gave so much wind to our sails and so much clarity to our mission of protecting and advancing artists’ rights. He will be deeply missed, but we are fortunate to have benefited from his wisdom and will always count him as friend and advisor.”
Rhino Entertainment, the catalog division of Warner Music Group (WMG), named Eric Franklin as vp of digital account strategy. He will report to Mark Pinkus, president of U.S. catalog and Rhino.
“Eric’s passion for music is manifested in his exceptional work,” said Pinkus. “He’s a stand-out leader, whose enthusiasm and experience helps drive Warner’s world-class catalog to new audiences, while broadening our relationships with partners and existing fans. I look forward to the ongoing impact he will have in 2021 and beyond, and congratulate him on this much-deserved promotion.”
In his new role, Franklin will be responsible for overseeing U.S. digital revenues and account relationships, including Amazon Music, Apple Music, Spotify and more.
FaZe Clan announced Kai Henry as chief strategy officer. With over 15 years of experience in various industries, he will oversee all creative strategy and continue to build a team of young creatives to propel the company in the future.
Prior to joining FaZe Clan, Henry helped manage major artists like Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube and co-founded numerous businesses like SKEE.TV on YouTube and streetwear line En Noir Clothing.
“We are thrilled to welcome Kai to the FaZe family,” said Lee Trink, CEO of FaZe Clan. “Kai possesses a wide breadth of skills and relationships that fit perfectly into the unique role of CSO for FaZe. His leadership on both the strategy and creative will help catapult us into the next part of our journey and continue to solidify FaZe as the home for the creatives of tomorrow.”
“It’s an honor to join the team at FaZe Clan,” added Henry. “I believe that Lee Trink, the founders and I have a shared vision that this will be a creative led business. I will continue to assemble and lead a braintrust composed of some of the brightest and most innovative creative executives, who lead an internet lifestyle and innately understand the cultural intersection where FaZe Clan sits. To me, there is no better place to be, especially in this particular moment in time as we embrace the huge paradigm shift occurring in entertainment. I look forward to helping forge new boundaries with this amazing team of visionaries.”
ONErpm expanded their Nashville Office with five new women executives in their marketing division.
Stephanie Onder will join as project manager for outlaw and country; Stephanie Murphy as country project manager; Julia McLeod as associate director of artist marketing and head product manager of alt and rock; Casey Childers as senior and lead project manager of pop dance; and Diana Garcia as director of marketing for Verge Records.
With 40 combined years of experience, the addition of these women will further develop ONErpm’s vast roster of artists and create new ground-breaking global artist campaigns.
Music discovery and ticketing platform DICE announced a series of promotions and new hires as part of the team’s global expansion.
A founding employee and formerly chief revenue officer, Russ Tannen has been promoted to president of DICE. He played a key role in the company’s market expansion across Europe.
Jordan Gremil will join as head of artist development. He previously led artist and fan development at Spotify and was head of content and artist programming at Sofar Sounds. In his new role, Gremil will manage all aspects of DICE’s livestream business.
Jo McNally will join as global head of music licensing. McNally previously led partner licensing at Spotify.
“We’re building our second HQ in New York and investing heavily in North America to bring fans the most amazing events at the best venues with zero hassle,” said Phil Hutcheon, founder and CEO of DICE. The world is about to experience the biggest growth in live entertainment in history and DICE is backing the best partners to do so.”
Exceleration Music appointed Britnee Foreman as head of data strategy and digital operations. She also serves on the board of directors of women in music and is the global co-chair of the membership.
Following stints at Next Big Sound, Pandora, Songtrust/Downtown and Tempo Music, Britnee will spearhead Exceleration’s operating initiatives around data management and optimization.
“Exceleration exists to add value to the incredible artists and labels we work with. In this digital-first market, the effective management and deployment of data — from royalty collection to marketing, artist development and discovery — will be at the heart of our organization,” said Amy Dietz, partner at Exceleration. “We are very excited to have someone with Britnee’s experience, passion and expertise leading Exceleration’s initiatives to help us achieve our ambitions.”
Rz3 Recordings announced the hiring of Clayton Durant as marketing director and Amanda Montgomery as marketing manager.
The two will develop and oversee all marketing, branding and communications strategy for the company’s properties including management, publishing and recorded music divisions.
“Clayton and Amanda’s marketing expertise is truly forward thinking in an industry which is constantly being disrupted by new technologies and platforms,” says Tricky Stewart, Rz3 founder and Grammy award-winning producer. “Having them lead our marketing efforts across all our company touchpoints I believe will give all our clients and array of IP the best opportunity to scale and grow.”
Durant and Montgomery will also continue to serve on the executive team at CAD Management.
Range Media Partners announced that they will represent Justin Tranter.
The producer and songwriter has garnered a plethora of recognition, including Grammy and Golden Globe nominations, 50 million single sales and 40 billion streams Spotify and YouTube alone. They also co-wrote Justin Bieber’s “Sorry” and has several major film and TV projects in development.
“For what I want in this next phase of my journey, working with Range feels like not only the best choice but possibly the only choice,” said Tranter. “The diverse network of expertise they have created inside their company is perfectly suited to help me achieve my next set of dreams. I’m forever grateful to the stories I’ve gotten to tell through pop music and will continue working on pop projects that deeply inspire me. However I’m already spreading my wings to tell stories through film, TV and theater and I need a team that can support and elevate those visions. From what I have already seen, the brilliant folks at Range can do just that. I’m beyond excited for this next step of my career and creativity and so grateful to have these new partners to get me to where I’m going.”
Oak View Group Facilities, managers and operators of UMBC’s Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena, named Wade Johnson as director of corporate partnerships for the on-campus arena and UMBC athletics.
Johnson will be responsible for overseeing and executing the advertising, sponsorship and corporate partnership sales. He previously served as corporate partnerships manager at Six Flags.
“Wade has a passion for discovering new ways to maximize partnership value for local and regional businesses, especially ones that support student-athletes,” said Tiffany Sun, Oak View Group’s general manager at Chesapeake Employers Insurance Arena. “We’re fortunate to have him as part of our team and we look forward to the new engagements Wade can create across the state of Maryland and here in Baltimore.”
