Executive Turntable: UMG Launches New Soundtrack & Score Label; Republic Names Digital Strategy SVP

Universal Music Group divisions Decca Records, Verve Label Group and Globe Soundtrack & Score joined forces to launch Mercury Classics Soundtrack & Score, a new boutique record label “dedicated to the art of soundtrack & score” and designed to “support today’s leading score composers and artists as they undertake major audio-visual projects globally,” according to a press release. Lana Thompson has been appointed as label manager. The label’s first major releases, slated for this year, include scores for Orion Pictures films Till, composed by Abel Korzeniowski, and Women Talking, composed by Hildur Guðnadóttir. Releases set for 2023 include the soundtrack to MGM’s A Good Person.

Republic Records promoted Tim Hrycyshyn to senior vp of digital strategy; he was previously vp of digital marketing. He is based in New York.

Epidemic Sound named Rikard Herlitz chief technology officer and Julian Persaud chief commercial officer. Both will start in January. Herlitz, who joins from Google, where he served as engineering director for Google Meet, will provide tech leadership and strategic direction across all Epidemic Sound markets. Persaud, who joins from European travel platform Omio, where he was chief commercial officer, will lead the company’s commercial strategy.

°1824, Universal Music Group’s youth-driven creative solutions division, named Possum Hill vp of content. Hill will oversee °1824’s content creation efforts while also working to scale UMG’s livestreaming capabilities. Hill, who joins °1824 from Capitol Music Group, where she was senior director of video production, will be based in Santa Monica and report to °1824 senior vp and head Todd Goodwin.

The College of Music and Media at Loyola University New Orleans — recently named a top music business school by Billboard — appointed music supervisor, music executive and independent film and TV producer and director Jonathan McHugh as its new Hilton-Baldridge eminent scholar and chair. McHugh will enjoy an endowed professorship, steering the university’s music industry studies program. His first initiative at Loyola is the launch of a “Composing for Video Games and Visual Media” major. “Since our student population is 55% diverse and the studios are having trouble filling the diverse hiring quotas and we have so much amazing talent, it makes perfect sense to do it next year,” says McHugh. “I am excited about helping to build next generation of entertainment and music stars at Loyola College of Music and get connected into internships and jobs in the entertainment business.” McHugh will continue in his various other roles outside the school. He recently directed two documentary films — Long Live Rock…Celebrate the Chaos and Cosplay Universe — and is music supervising season two of the animated series Freak Brothers (Lionsgate/Fox/Tubi). He is a member of the Television Academy and the Producers Guild documentary jury.

A2IM announced its 2022-23 executive committee, including Victor Zaraya (Concord Records) as chair, Louis Posen (Hopeless Records) as vice chair, Mariah Czap (Yep Roc Music Group) as treasurer and Heather Johnson (Ninety9Lives/Fixt) as secretary. The organization additionally announced four new board members including Mary Jurey (chief business officer at Blue Elan), Tony Kiewel (president at Sub Pop), Wilson Fuller (head of digital at Merge Records) and Dee Diaz (vp of digital strategy at Reach Records), who will join returning board members Marie Clausen (head of North America & global streaming at Ninja Tune), Steven Hill (director of North America & global projects at Warp Records) and Tony Alexander (president & managing director at Made In Memphis Entertainment). The new advisory board, meanwhile, consists of Talya Elitzer (co-founder of GodMode), Gina Miller (senior vp & general manager at MNRK), Jason Peterson (chairman & CEO at GoDigital Media Group) and Glen Barros (CEO at Exceleration Music).

Create Music Group named Brian Glover to the newly-created role of senior director of streaming. He will oversee streaming strategy for the hip-hop, R&B and pop artists that Create distributes. Based in Los Angeles, Glover arrives at the company from indie label Cinematic Music Group, where he served as director of commerce and artist marketing.

Sophia Sansone and Jarrod Holley were promoted to managing partners at Chris Kappy‘s Make Wake Artists. Sansone manages Luke Combs and his wife, Nicole Combs. Holley leads all A&R responsibilities for the company and manages Drew Parker, Jackie Lee, Cooper Alan and Colby Acuff.

Hazel Savage, music intelligence vp at SoundCloud, joined B2B streaming technology solutions company Tuned Global as a non-executive board member.

Music licensing technology company Audoo hired Matthew Fackrell as senior vp and general manager, Asia Pacific and Eric Nguyen as senior vp and general manager, North America. Based in Sydney and Toronto, respectively, and reporting to Audoo founder and CEO Ryan Edwards, the two will provide industry expertise in their respective territories to execute the adoption and rollout of Audoo’s technology. Fackrell comes from APRA AMCOS and Nguyen joins from Richter Consulting. They can be reached at [email protected] and [email protected].

A16z crypto, a venture capital fund managed by Andreessen Horowitz that invests in crypto and Web3 startups, hired Richard Rosenblatt as a senior advisor. Rosenblatt serves as the chairman of ADIM and Autograph, two a16z crypto portfolio companies.