Jennifer Caserta was named head of people at SoundCloud, where she will be responsible for developing and executing the company’s human resources strategy to support the overall business and direction of the organization. Reporting to CFO and COO Drew Wilson with a dotted line to CEO Michael Weissman, Caserta will promote strategic people practices, leadership and development while overseeing internal communications and managing branding for hundreds of international SoundCloud employees.
Symphonic Distribution is expanding its business to Canada as part of a strategic merger with Higher Reign Music Group’s recently-launched Higher Reign Music Distribution. HRMG executives Steeven Leblanc and Antoine Regniere will oversee Symphonic’s Canadian operations by leading and building the business and its team amid the expansion.
Seth Dudowsky was promoted to head of music for the NFL. Also the league’s senior leader in charge of the Super Bowl Halftime Show, Dudowsky will oversee booking, staging and production of musical performance entertainment for all NFL events. He will also continue working with Roc Nation partners to produce NFL performances.
United Talent Agency (UTA) announced the largest partner class in its 31-year history, with 26 new partners representing more than 15 divisions and corporate functions. Among the new line of partners are music agents Mike “G” Guirguis, Jbeau Lewis and Matthew Morgan, plus co-head of music brand partnerships Toni Wallace.
Carol Ding has been appointed to the newly created position of senior vp & head of digital and commercial at Universal Music Greater China (UMGC). Based out of Beijing, she will report to both Sunny Chang, chairman and CEO of UMGC, and Ulrik Cahn, executive vp of Africa Middle East Asia (AMEA). Ding will oversee digital and commercial business development and operation in the regional markets and work closely with frontline labels and territories while exploring commercial opportunities for UMGC’s artists.
Taylor Vaughn was promoted to vp of media at Republic Records. Based out of Los Angeles, she will enact 360-degree media and publicity campaigns for a diverse roster of pop, alternative and rock artists including Glass Animals, BoyWithUke, Conan Gray, James Bay, Lord Huron, BENEE, Stephen Sanchez, Greta Van Fleet, Pearl Jam, Eddie Vedder, John Mellencamp and Jack Johnson.
Kate London was named head of music legal & business affairs at Audio Up, where she will oversee business and legal dealings across all of Audio Up’s music projects. She can be reached at kate@audioup.com.
Maaliq Joseph was hired at Snap as manager of music artist partnerships on the talent partnerships team. Based out of Los Angeles and reporting to Snap’s head of creator partnerships Francis Roberts, Joseph will help manage and develop relationships with artists on the platform while supporting strategic content opportunities.
Live Nation‘s Latin touring team expanded with four new hires. Daryivett Romo was named director of Latin tour marketing; Katrina Rodriguez joins as manager of Latin tour marketing; Stephanie Rodriguez is the Latin tour marketing coordinator and Nadia Hernandez was hired as director of Latin communications for the concerts division. Romo is already working on 38 dates for Wisin y Yandel, 40 shows for Gloria Trevi and 35 for Los Angeles Azules; Katrina Rodriguez is working on tours for Bunbury, Santa Fe Klan, Rels B, Enanitos Verdes and Gera MX; Stephanie Rodriguez will work on over 20 tours, including for Bad Bunny, Los Bukis, Wisin y Yandel and Angela Aguilar; and Hernandez will oversee press initiatives and help build Latin media strategies for all of Live Nation’s Latin tours and touring artists.
Susanne Hazendonk was named vp of marketing at Spinnin’ Records as the company restructures its marketing department to highlight Web3 and NFTs as key spaces. Hazendonk will oversee the merging of the existing separate brand and recording marketing teams with a goal to provide more cohesive marketing strategies. She can be reached at susanne.hazendonk@spinninrecords.nl.
Jacob Passick was hired as director of digital marketing at Rostrum Records. Based out of New York City, Passick will lead all digital marketing and digital partner initiatives and campaigns for Rostrum’s current roster of artists, including Wiz Khalifa, DC the Don, Lou Phelps, Rich The Kid, My Favorite Color and the late Mac Miller. Reporting to general manager Jonathan Partch, Passick will work closely with head of marketing Colby Silon. Passick can be reached at jacob@rostrumrecords.com.
Psyko Steve Presents (PSP), an Arizona-based concert promoter, promoted talent buyer Jeff Taylor to general manager. He will retain his role as one of the company’s principal talent buyers while taking on larger managerial responsibilities.
Bpm music and its subsidiaries bpm supreme and bpm create added DJ and producer Deorro, producer duo Play-N-Skillz, producer Dem Jointz, rapper/songwriter/actor Torae, producer MyGuyMars and DJ/entrepreneur/author Mick to its advisory board.
