Music Industry Moves: Third Side Music Secures U.S. Administration for Galt MacDermot’s ‘Hair: The Musical’ Compositions
Independent music publisher Third Side Music has inked an exclusive publishing deal with MacDermot Music LLC. to administer late composer Galt MacDermot’s compositions from the musical “Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical” in the United States.
Since 2013, Third Side has represented MacDermot’s non-“Hair” catalog. The Canadian-American composer’s works include songs like “Coffee Cold” and “Cathedral,” music from the Broadway musical “Two Gentlemen of Verona,” the soundtrack to the film “Rhinoceros,” and much more.
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“The entire team at Third Side Music is incredibly honored to have the opportunity to represent the U.S. rights of Galt MacDermot’s share of Hair Musical compositions,” said Patrick Curley, president and CEO of Third Side. “This is an extension of our decade-long relationship with the MacDermot family. We look forward to collaborating with the MacDermots in shining a new light on these iconic world-legacy songs, including ‘Let the Sunshine In’ and ‘Aquarius’.”
The MacDermot family added: “TSM and MacDermot Music LLC have collaborated successfully for over a decade on the wider catalog of composer Galt MacDermot. The MacDermot family is happy to announce that TSM will also represent the domestic HAIR catalog, the music for which composer Galt MacDermot is best-known. We look forward to this new chapter of collaboration with TSM!”
+ Create Music Group‘s influencer marketing agency VRTCL has promoted Imani “Mango” Lewis to director. She will lead operations and strategy and continue to report to Flightouse Media CEO Ash Stahl.
Lewis spearheaded influencer campaigns for Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em,” Dasha’s “Austin” and Madison Beer’s “Make You Mine.”
“Imani’s exceptional talent and dedication have consistently driven some of our most successful influencer campaigns in recent years,” said Stahl. “Her innovative strategies and unwavering commitment to excellence make her an invaluable asset to the VRTCL team.”
“I am eager to continue building a successful and dynamic team at VRTCL,” Lewis added. “I am grateful for the support and collaboration of the Flighthouse team, and I look forward to achieving even greater milestones together in this new role.”
Tuesday, July 2
Tixr, a ticketing and live event commerce marketplace, is set to open its new London office at London Bridge. The move marks the company’s first steps into continental Europe with Stephanie Rosa serving as managing director of the region.
The London office follows the expansion of Tixr’s operations into Canada and recent partnerships with Space Ibiza, Eden Nightclub in Ibiza, and British digital radio station Kisstory. They also work with festivals and entities including F.A.T. International, RuPaul’s Dragcon, Dreamhack, Uptown Festival, Dublin ComicCon, Leicestershire County Cricket Club, Egg London, E1 Series, Brockwell Live, Aramco Team Series and London’s Signature Brew.
“The word is out about Tixr, I couldn’t be more excited to lead our UK operations and European expansion from our new London office,” said Rosa. “There’s no modern platform more capable of servicing such a wide array of complex events, and the opportunities in the region are immense. The fantastic regional team we’ve built is honoured to partner with iconic sell-out festivals like Forbidden Forest that value design, innovation, and share in our mission to deliver the best fan experience possible, starting with the ticket.”
Before relocating to London for her newly created role, Rosa served as Tixr’s director of partnerships and sales operations. She came to Tixr from UK-based Festicket, which was acquired by Lyte in 2022, where she served as vice president of sales in North America.
+ Quality Control, the Atlanta-based entertainment company, has named Britney Davis general manager. Quality Control was acquired by HYBE America in February 2023.
Alongside Pierre “P” Thomas and Kevin “Coach K” Lee, Davis will oversee daily operations of the label and liaise with the artist roster and affiliated teams. Davis has been working with Quality Control since 2018 through Capitol Music Group where she handled strategic global marketing and operations. Under the leadership of former Motown chairwoman Ethiopia Habtermariam, Davis led marketing, development, and artist relations efforts for a select roster of Quality Control artists (Lil Baby, Lil Yachty, City Girls and Migos are among its signings).
“I’m thrilled to be named General Manager of Quality Control,” said Davis. “I am passionate about continuing to bring the label’s vision to life and to work alongside P, Coach K, and Jen McDaniels – as their talent, loyalty, and creative instincts are truly unparalleled. I’m grateful to lend my experience and drive to this incredible journey.”
Davis has worked on marketing campaigns for Migos, City Girls, Tiwa Savage, Queen Naija and the “Queen & Slim” soundtrack, the latter earning a Grammy nomination for the song “Collide.” She also previously worked as day-to-day management for Grammy award-winner Chris Brown, while working alongside him and Phase Too founder Tina Davis to develop CBE Records and overseeing the songwriting and artist development for Sevyn Streeter, Kevin McCall, Joelle James and more.
+ Wasserman Music has made three new hires: Adam Clements as manager, tour marketing in London; Oskar Muller joins as director, pricing and Ticketing in Chicago; and Jenn Rilloraza as manager, brand partnerships in Los Angeles.
“We’re thrilled to welcome Adam, Oskar, and Jenn to our global team to build on our robust suite of services and add innovative new capabilities to help our clients meet and exceed their goals,” said Wasserman Music President Lee Anderson. “We are relentless in continually creating new ways to serve our valued clients around the world, and these important new additions to Team Wass reflect that.”
+ Cumulus Media has promoted Shoshana Shapiro has been promoted to senior VP of corporate communications and marketing from her current role as VP of corporate communications and marketing initiatives.
Shapiro will continue reporting to Mary G. Berner, president and CEO of Cumulus, and serving as a member of the company’s leadership team.
Prior to her tenure at Cumulus, Shapiro held roles across several media sectors, including publishing with the Association of Magazine Media, film and TV development with Tribeca Productions, and television production with an ABC daytime talk show. She also spent several years with Rosie O’Donnell’s production company, KidRo Productions, ultimately serving as a producer and frequent on-air contributor on Sirius XM’s Rosie Radio.
+ Warner Records has promoted Robert Santini to senior VP, brand partnerships and ad sync.
Since joining the company in 2020, Santini has spent the last four years as VP brand partnerships and ad sync. Santini led Warner Records’ partnership with Roblox and the NFL for the first-of-its-kind virtual Super Bowl Halftime performance headlined by Saweetie within the Metaverse.
Butzky said: “Nobody understands the intersection between music, sports, and video games quite like Robert does. He recognizes the value of cross-collaboration and always identifies the potential to break ground early on. He constantly seeks out meaningful partnerships that reflect the artistry of our roster. It’s a credit to his experience, vision, work ethic, and ingenuity. I’m very happy to announce this much-deserved promotion as I know he’s going to continue to break down boundaries.”
+ Merlin has named Neil Miller its new general counsel.
Miller most recently served as a partner at international law firm Greenberg Traurig, LLP, where he advised prominent technology, gaming, social media, and digital entertainment companies on all aspects of music rights and licensing.
Prior to that, Miller held several in-house positions, including at Meta, where he led the international music licensing legal team as director and associate general counsel and at SoundCloud where he served as senior VP and general counsel for six years. His career also includes leadership roles at CBS Interactive and Viacom/MTV, among others.
Jeremy Sirota, Merlin CEO, said: “Neil is an extremely talented executive. His legal and commercial expertise will ensure that Merlin can deliver on its mission of building an ethical, sustainable, and indie-centric world. His leadership skills bring a new dimension to our executive team where he will make a significant contribution across Merlin, our members and partners.”
+ Spirit Music Group has appointed Lou Al-Chamaa to the role of executive VP of A&R. Al-Chamaa will report to Frank Rogers, Spirit Music Group’s chief creative officer.
Al-Chamaa joins Spirit from Avex USA, where he served as senior VP/ head of A&R, publishing and worked to build and restructure the company’s A&R and creative division. Lou’s role at Avex was key to bringing in big signings such as Victony, songwriter Jasper Harris and producer Gent! Lou also helped cement partnerships with Ryan Tedder’s Runner Music publishing.
Al-Chamaa spent six years at Sony Music Publishing as VP of A&R where he signed and worked with clients such as Mike Posner, Lucky Daye, Daniel Caesar, Khalid, Louis Bell and Tori Kelly, among others.
+ Capitol Christian Music Group has announced the promotion of Walter Thomas to VP of artist development at Motown Gospel and TAMLA Records. Additionally, Alexandria “Dria” Dollar has joined CCMG in the role of senior director of A&R at TAMLA and Motown Gospel.
+ Independent publishing firm OTM Music has made several new hires.
Kristin Genovese joins as U.S. head of sync. Meanwhile, on the UK side of the house, Kate Sweetsur joins the team as the new head of A&R alongside Chi Chi Nwakodo (senior sync creative) and Ethan Mizen (A&R manager).
OTM Music recently inked high-profile publishing deals with longtime Kid Cudi producer Dot Da Genius and DJ-producer Sub Focus after hiring Melissa Masken — who previously worked with Paul McCartney, Joni Mitchell, Lizzo and Paul Simon — as its head of north america and senior VP creative. OTM has also secured placements with several brands, including Starbucks, IKEA, Microsoft, Google, Ford, Nike, Amazon, Coca Cola, McDonalds, Netflix, Adidas, Facebook, HBO and Red Bull.
+ Musicians On Call (MOC), a nonprofit that brings live and recorded music to the bedsides of patients, families and caregivers in healthcare environments, has appointed True Public Relations publicist and co-owner Marcel Pariseau and songwriter Sam Hollander to its national board of directors.
Pariseau joins Musicians On Call after working with a wide portfolio of brands like Walmart, P&G, Louis Vuitton and Amazon, as well as Scarlett Johansson, Kristen Bell, Dolly Parton, Wynonna Judd, and many more. Pariseau is also a member of CMA, ACM, Recording Academy and Television Academy. True has offices in Los Angeles and Nashville.
Hollander is an award-winning songwriter who has written hit songs for artists like Panic! at the Disco, One Direction, Train, Katy Perry, Fitz & The Tantrums, Carole King, Ringo Starr, Aloe Blacc, Goo Goo Dolls, Kelly Rowland, Matt Nathanson, O.A.R. and numerous others.
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