Music News (8/6/14)

John Josephson

SESAC has named John Josephson Chairman and CEO, succeeding Stephen Swid, Chairman Emeritus. He has been a director of the company since 1992 and is a Managing Director at investment bank Allen & Co.

Pat Collins

Pat Collins, President and COO of SESAC, has been elevated to the position of President and CEO of SESAC Performance Rights, a subsidiary of SESAC that will incorporate the company’s core performing rights activities.

Collins will remain based in Nashville. Josephson and Turner will be based in SESAC’s New York office.

Kelli Turner, Managing General Partner at RSL Venture Partners, LP, has joined SESAC in the role of Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and CFO, where she will oversee corporate development, finance and human resources. Mike Hidalgo will continue as a key member of the senior management team in the role of Deputy CFO of SESAC.

Read more at MusicRow.com.

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On July 28, ASCAP filed its opening brief with the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in the Pandora litigation. Among the requests surrounds the ASCAP consent decree that the PRO is constrained by. Read more at MusicRow.com.

BMI, on the other hand is constrained by its own concent decree and was expected to file a submission Aug. 6 in response to Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice. Read more at MusicRow.com.

As a side note, SESAC is not constrained by any consent decree.

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BMI will celebrate top Country songwriters during the company’s 62nd annual BMI Country Awards, set for Tuesday, Nov. 4 at BMI’s Nashville offices. BMI will honor the Country Songwriter, Song and Publisher of the Year, and salute the writers and publishers behind the past year’s 50 most-performed songs from BMI’s Country catalog.

They will also honor the BMI Icon Award, the organization’s highest honor, which is given to “songwriters who have had a unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.” This year’s recipient of the BMI Icon award will be announced in coming weeks.

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Nick Wells

Artist/songwriter Nick Wells has signed a publishing deal with Nashville-based Zavitson Music Group. The Vanderbilt University graduate currently resides in Los Angeles, where he has written songs with will.i.am, Danny Mercer, Dante Jones, Jonathan Perkins, Kam Parker, and Jackson Morgan. His songs have been recorded by Khalil and Marcus Canty.

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