Publishing
Audrey Ashby
SENIOR VP OF BUSINESS AFFAIRS, CATALOG, SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING
Katie Welle
SENIOR VP OF CREATIVE, NASHVILLE, SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING
Anna Weisband
VP OF CREATIVE, NASHVILLE, SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING
Meghann Wright
DIRECTOR OF ROYALTY ADMINISTRATION (NORTH AMERICA), SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING
Jen Gobeille
ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF COPYRIGHT
(NORTH AMERICA), SONY MUSIC PUBLISHING As part of Sony Music Group and under the guidance of its chairman/CEO, Jon Platt, Sony Music Publishing continued to pursue a more transparent, songwriterfriendly future. In July, the company launched Songwriters Forward, a new program that allows certain legacy signings to receive royalties from their work even if they have never recouped their advance. The publisher hopes to “wipe the slate clean” for songwriters so that they can “focus on creativity,” says Ashby. “Under Jon’s leadership, [we have] risen to the occasion.”
Kat Basolo
VP OF CREATIVE SYNCH, KOBALT Jamie Kinelski Jill Tschogl
VPs OF CREATIVE, KOBALT
Kobalt’s creative team celebrated a banner year: Tschogl helped to close recent deals with Young Thug, Roddy Ricch, London on Da Track, Machine Gun Kelly and M.I.A.; Basolo, 39, landed over 100 synch placements for the publisher’s artists in campaigns with Google, Apple, Toyota and the Summer Olympics in Tokyo; and Kinelski’s signing of Kali Uchis scored a breakout hit with “Telepatía,” which spent eight weeks at No. 1 on the Hot Latin Songs chart. Kinelski signed her after catching the artist’s set at South by Southwest in 2016, when she “played a show for 10 people,” she says, “so it has been thrilling to witness her finally receive the recognition she deserves.”
Mandy Gabriel
VP OF FILM, TELEVISION AND ADVERTISING, UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP Lillia Parsa
SENIOR VP OF A&R, UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP
Ana Rosa Santiago
VP OF LATIN MUSIC,
UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP
Taylor Testa
VP OF A&R, UNIVERSAL MUSIC PUBLISHING GROUP
In December 2020, Universal Music Publishing Group writer Bad Bunny made history when El Último Tour del Mundo became the first all-Spanishlanguage album to reach No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200. In 2021, the Puerto Rican star became Spotify’s most streamed artist in the world for the second consecutive year with more than 9.1 billion streams and a No. 1 on the Top Latin Albums chart with his recent vinyl-exclusive Anniversary Trilogy. “Bad Bunny is a well-rounded artist who constantly surprises our team with his individuality,” says Santiago.
Golnar Khosrowshahi FOUNDER/CEO, RESERVOIR MEDIA
Donna Caseine
EXECUTIVE VP/GLOBAL CREATIVE DIRECTOR, RESERVOIR MEDIA
Faith Newman
EXECUTIVE VP OF A&R AND
CATALOG DEVELOPMENT, RESERVOIR MEDIA See profile, page 80.
Carianne Marshall
CO-CHAIR/COO, WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC Jenni Pfaff
SENIOR VP/HEAD OF GLOBAL STRATEGIC INTEGRATION AND OPERATIONS,
WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC
Shani Gonzales
MANAGING DIRECTOR, WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC U.K.; HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL A&R, WARNER CHAPPELL MUSIC
Marshall, along with Warner Chappell Music co-chair/CEO Guy Moot, has guided efforts to bring a new unified strategy to the publisher that is “departmentagnostic,” as Marshall says. One step in that process was the appointment last year of Pfaff, whose role has included gathering input and feedback from
Warner Chappell songwriters and their managers from around the world, while working with company leaders in synch, creative services, digital and administration to promote synergy. In London, Gonzales renewed Warner Chappell’s deal for the song catalog of the late George Michael, promoted collaborations across the company’s international roster and signed British songwriter-rapper Central Cee, who was nominated this year for three BRIT Awards.
Clio Massey
GM, WORK OF ART MUSIC PUBLISHING; VP OF A&R, ARISTA RECORDS
Massey’s Work of Art scored early by signing JP Saxe in 2019. Since then, she has helped steer the Canadian artist’s mainstream breakthrough, led by the hit “If the World Was Ending,” co-written by and featuring songwriter-artist Julia Michaels. The track has notched over 1.2 billion global streams and is certified three-times platinum in the United States. It earned a Grammy Award nomination for song of the year in 2021 — a milestone that Massey notes is “a particularly meaningful category for songwriters and publishers.”
“The dedication and loyalty of our staff and songwriters not only kept the firm on track but allowed us to continue to thrive during a pandemic.”
—KATHY SPANBERGER
Katie Mitzell Fagan
HEAD OF A&R, NASHVILLE, PRESCRIPTION SONGS
Rhea Pasricha HEAD OF A&R, WEST COAST, PRESCRIPTION SONGS
Prescription Songs’ revenue increased 40% in the past year, according to the company, while it expanded its offices in Los Angeles and Nashville “with new A&R and team hires,” says Mitzell Fagan, 34. The company’s marquee songwriter Doja Cat had major success with her singles “Kiss Me More,” “Need To Know” and “You Right,” and is also nominated for best rap song at the Grammy Awards after appearing on Saweetie’s “Best Friend.” Elsewhere on the Prescription roster, KbeaZy became one of the youngest producers to have a No. 1 on the Hot 100 with 24kGoldn’s “Mood,” featuring iann dior. KbeaZy also co-produced Lil Nas X’s “That’s What I Want.”
Helen Murphy
CEO, ANTHEM ENTERTAINMENT
Under Murphy, Anthem Entertainment’s most recent achievement is the acquisition of the country hit-laden catalog of songwriter Kelly Archer, whose songs have been recorded by Jason Aldean, Dustin Lynch, Reba McEntire, Trisha Yearwood and many others. Among the Vancouver native’s hits are Travis Denning’s “After a Few” and Justin Moore’s “Somebody Else Will,” both of which hit No. 1 on the Country Airplay chart, and Brett Young’s “Sleep Without You,” which reached No. 2. Anthem and RED Creative Group have also signed Archer to an exclusive go-forward deal that covers her future songs.
Natalia Nastaskin CHIEF CONTENT OFFICER, PRIMARY WAVE MUSIC
Amid a busy year overseeing artist management clients, brand partnerships, synch rights, NFTs, theatrical musicals and more, Primary Wave continued to make waves with its music catalog acquisitions. It has secured deals with Sun Records and the estates of Prince, James Brown, Luther Vandross, Bing Crosby and Gerry
Goffin. And in January, it expanded its catalog partnership with Def Leppard. “When we acquire catalogs or sign talent, it is because we believe that we can bring them certain opportunities,” says Nastaskin. More rewarding than working on the world’s “most important music,” she adds, “is knowing that our partners — the creators — are seeing the value of their retained shares increasing through our team’s efforts.”
Molly Neuman PRESIDENT, SONGTRUST
Songtrust, which represents over 350,000 songwriters with more than 3 million songs in 245 countries and territories, continues to pursue growth by reaching out to songwriters, producers, collaborators and other music creators. Serving such professionals at all career stages from the DIY sector to established songwriters that own their copyrights, as well as working with music publishing companies that need administration solutions, the Downtown Music Holdings company has expanded its outreach in Africa, Latin America and Asia, where education about songwriter rights and publishing administration services are deeply needed, Neuman says.
Miwa Okumura
SENIOR VP OF WEST COAST OPERATIONS AND LICENSING, BEGGARS GROUP
Okumura advocates for and works closely with all artists on the Beggars roster, but has found the past year particularly special because it “provided a great opportunity to hone in on our recent signings who happen to [comprise] those in the LGBTQ, BIPOC and AAPI communities,” she says, citing acts including Lucinda Chua, Tkay Maidza, Spencer., Yaeji and Arca who all “had great placements in shows like HBO Max’s Euphoria, Gossip Girl, Betty and Insecure.”
Kathy Spanberger
PRESIDENT/COO, ANGLO AMERICAN REGION, PEERMUSIC
Despite disruption in their normal routines — including “huge personal challenges and loss” — independent music publisher peermusic’s staff and songwriters “showed up every day to do their work,” says Spanberger, who has been at the company for 43 years. “Their dedication and loyalty not only kept the firm on track but allowed us to continue to thrive during a pandemic. They are indeed the greatest achievement any executive could hope for.” Spanberger directly supervises, approves and is actively involved in recruitment of all of peermusic’s publishing signings in the United States, Canada and Australia, spanning pop, R&B, hip-hop, rock, Latin and country. The family-owned publishing company ranked at No. 8 on Billboard’s year-end Hot 100 Publishing Corporations chart.
Starrah
FOUNDER, 3:02 PUBLISHING
After co-writing hits for Camila Cabello, Maroon 5 and Drake, Starrah launched her own publishing outfit, 3:02, with manager Nick Jarjour. The company comprises other songwriter-producers that she first met on Myspace, Twitter and Instagram. The publisher’s latest credit? Co-writing and producing Normani and Cardi B’s “Wild Side,” which became its “first No. 1 placement” when it topped the Mainstream R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart dated Jan. 1. The milestone, says Starrah, “shows the manifestation power of a team that has the same vision.”