In Spotify's preparation to go public, the company has made two major additions to its corporate team.
Adam Parness has left his role at Pandora as head of publisher licensing and relations to become Spotify's global head of publisher licensing. Beginning Oct. 30, Parness will take the lead in growing relationships with songwriters and publishing industry members from the company’s New York base. He will report to Horacio Gutierrez, Spotify’s general counsel and global head of content licensing.
Prior to Pandora, Parness led global music publishing initiatives at Amazon and was a key player in the launch of Prime Music. Before that, he served as vp of music licensing at Rhapsody, where he was involved with the acquisition of Napster.
Spotify has also appointed Nike exec Heidi O’Neill to its board. As president, direct to consumer at Nike, O’Neill oversees its $9 billion retail, digital and e-commerce units. She is joining several other blue-chip chiefs currently serving on the streaming service's board, including Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos, former Disney COO Tom Staggs and former Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior.
More moves in the ‘biz:
-- Warner Bros. Records unveiled its new leadership team: Aaron Bay-Schuckhas been boosted to co-chairman and CEO, from his previous position as president of A&R of Interscope Geffen A&M; and Tom Corson, president/COO at RCA Records, will be named co-chairman and COO. The announcement marks the first major moves for new Warner Music Group CEO of recorded music Max Lousada.
--Capitol Music Group tapped respected industry exec Brian Nolan as senior vp of its in-house brand partnership and synch licensing division, seventeenfifty. In his new position based out of the company's Capitol Records Tower in Hollywood, California, Nolan will be tasked with generating and maximizing revenue streams, developing and breaking new artists and bolstering marketing efforts for the seventeenfifty roster. Nolan, a 2014 alum of Billboard's annual 40 Under 40 list, joins CMG after spending the past 12 years at Columbia Records/Sony Music, where he most recently served as Columbia's vp of international marketing.
--Parlophone Records chairman Miles Leonard has made the decision to leavethe Warner imprint in 2018. The long-standing and highly respected executive has held the role of Parlophone chairman since 2013 when Warner acquired the historic British label from EMI. From 2013 to April 2016, Leonard was also co-chairman for the U.K. arm of Warner Bros. Records before stepping aside to concentrate fully on running Parlophone.
--Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) president and CEO Andrew Houseannounced he would be stepping down from his posts immediately, staying on as the company’s chairman and working with the management team to “ensure a smooth transition.” Filling his vacancy will be John Kodera, the current deputy president of SIE and a Sony employee since 1992. Kodera said he is committed to enhancing “the PlayStation brand and expanding the game and network services business.”
