Motown Records has announced that Brian Nolan has been appointed executive vice president of the label and executive vice president of marketing, effective immediately. According to the announcement, in this new role, Nolan will join the label’s leadership team and will help guide the business as well as oversee Motown’s marketing teams and initiatives. He will report to the CEO of Motown, Ethiopia Habtemariam.
In making the announcement, Habtemariam said, “As we continue to build Motown, I am delighted to bring together leaders who are not only innovative in their approach to their work, but thoughtful, deliberate and determined to support our artists and bring their vision to the world. Brian sees the big picture and draws on his background in promotion, international marketing, brand partnerships and timing, which gives him an understanding of how to connect the dots and create synergies for strong global campaigns and well balanced.
Nolan said: “I have been preparing for this role for over 20 years and I am very grateful to Ethiopia for this opportunity. We are building an incredible new legacy at Motown and I am extremely proud to do a determined job of helping to convey our artists’ vision to fans around the world.
During his career, Nolan has held positions in radio promotion, timing licensing, brand partnerships, sports marketing, original content and international marketing. Prior to joining Motown, he was Executive Vice President of Capitol Music Group and Director of Seventeenfifty, where he executed a series of brand partnerships and campaigns for artists such as Lil Baby and PepsiCo; Halsey and Beats by Dre; Migos and Mountain Dew and TNT. He was also the producer of the soundtrack to the Netflix film “To All the Boys: PS I Still Love You”, snf is part of the Universal Music Group Task Force for Meaningful Change and is a member of the Board of Directors of West Coast Chapter of the TJ Martell Foundation. . Prior to joining CMG in 2017, Nolan spent 12 years at Columbia Records / Sony Music, most recently as Vice President of International Marketing for Columbia.
+ Epic Records has promoted Margeaux Watson to senior vice president of marketing, announced Dave Bell, executive vice president of marketing. She joined the company in 2019, and in her new role, she will continue to strategize, design and implement meaningful marketing campaigns for the label’s artists, according to the announcement. Her projects include releases for Black Eyed Peas, Camila Cabello, Bobby Shmurda, Jennifer Hudson, Swizz Beatz, Tyla Yaweh, AJ Mitchell, MK xyz, and Charm La’Donna, among others. She is based in Los Angeles.
Bell commented, “Margeaux is a world-class marketing executive whose tenacity and commitment to innovation inspires our entire team. It is an honor to announce his well-deserved promotion.
Watson added, “Learning and growing under the guidance of Sylvia Rhone and Dave Bell has been an exciting journey, and I am extremely grateful for their continued guidance and support. “
Prior to Epic, she held executive positions at Roc Nation, Spotify, and Universal Motown, and previously worked as an entertainment reporter and editor for Entertainment Weekly, Time Out New York, and other publications.
Wednesday June 30
Young thug landed a major role in the musical “Throw It Back” – appearing in the film and overseeing its soundtrack as an executive producer. Directed by Shadae Lamar Smith from a script written with Rochée Jeffrey, the film stars Shahadi Wright Joseph and will star Tiffany Haddish in a supporting role. It is produced by Paul Feig and Laura Fischer of Feigco Entertainment, Jeffrey and Haddish and Melanie Clark of She Ready Productions. CAA Media Finance represents the national distribution rights of the film; Mad River manages international sales.
The heavy dance production is punctuated by southern hip hop and the rhythms of college group HBCU. Young Thug is represented by UTA, manager Geoffrey Ogunlesi, publicist Anna Meacham at Huxley and attorneys Andre Des Rochers of Granderson Des Rocher.
+ In a curious gesture, Kobalt announced that it had achieved profitability during the year ending Wednesday (June 30) after announcing its financial results for the previous year. Presumably, the company will release details of this first year of profitability – which included the sale of its AWAL label and Kobalt Neighboring Rights assets to Sony Music for $ 430 million – within a year.
The company said on Wednesday that its gross collections rose 13% to $ 703 million in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2020, on its previous forecast. Its publishing division increased revenue 7.6% from the previous year to $ 436 million, thanks to co-writes on hits by Roddy Ricch, Billie Eilish, Megan Thee Stallion, the Weeknd , Doja Cat, Dua Lipa and more.
“Achieving profitability was a key objective for Kobalt to further strengthen the business for our customers and ensure long-term success,” said CEO Laurent Hubert. “I am proud that we were able to take this important step well ahead of the plan and do so in an unprecedented year. Kobalt is well positioned to take our service and offering to the next level. “
+ Producer and songwriter WondaGurl (real name: Ebony Oshunrinde), who recently won a Juno Award for Female Producer of the Year (the first black woman to claim the Canadian honor), is launching a label with Red bull records called Wonderchild. She will work alongside Red Bull Records Managing Director Greg Hammer and A&R Senior Vice President and Director Kenny “Tick” Salcido to recruit and develop new talent. Toronto rapper Jugger is the first artist to sign with Wonderchild.
Said WondaGurl, who is led by Tyler Henry: “Kenny, G, Greg and the rest of the team gave me the time and space to create. As an artist and producer, that means everything. I look forward to the release of our first project together and everything that will follow with this relationship.
+ Nashville Triple 8 management expanded its list of producer-composer signatures Cason Cooley (NEEDTOBREATHE, American authors), Luke Dick (Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley), Martin johnson (Chase Rice, Dame A), Brandon’s enclosure (She the King), Jon randall (Parker McCollum, Dwight Yoakam), Danen Reed Rector (Charlotte Sands, Kyd The Band) as well as engineer F. Reid Shippen (Kenny Chesney, Ingrid Michaelson) and mixer / engineer / producer Shani gandhi (Sierra Hull, The Mountain Goats, Sarah Jarosz).
+ Hipgnosis song group promoted Christian johnson to the senior manager of A&R. Based in Los Angeles, Johnson joined Big Deal Music Group (which was acquired by Hipgnosis last year) in 2018 as an assistant to co-chairman Casey Robison. In his new role, he will work on the company’s roster and producer roster, including John Ryan (Maroon 5, One Direction), Julian Bunetta (Thomas Rhett, Clean Bandit), Dan Wilson (Adele, the Chicks, Leon Bridges) and Suite. He is also the daily manager of songwriter-producers Jordan Johnson and Stefan Johnson of The Monsters & Strangerz. “I am extremely proud of Christian,” said Robison. “His passion for songs and songwriters, his work ethic and his drive are second to none.”
+ Country group King Calaway signed with Red light management, where they will be represented by Gaines Sturdivant. The band released their debut album “Rivers” via BBR Music Group’s Stoney Creek Records in October 2019.
+ Buzzing LA artist Seb signed with Mom + Pop Music and plans to release their debut EP on July 30.
+ Country-pop newcomer Morgan wade signed with Universal Music Publishing Nashville. Described by Rolling Stone as “Lucinda Williams Meets Joan Jett”, her debut album, “Reckless”, was released earlier this year.
