🎶Inside the Industry🎶
LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Position Music President and CEO Tyler Bacon announced Tuesday (December 6) that Melanie Ainsworth has been hired as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for the company. Before joining Position, Ainsworth served as financial controller for the Big Machine Label Group (BMLG) in Nashville.
While at BMLG, Ainsworth managed the daily financial operations of Big Machine Records, The Valory Music Co, BMLG Records, and John Varvatos Records, and its publishing arm, Big Machine Music. Some of the artist accounts Ainsworth worked on included Lady A, Thomas Rhett, Carly Pearce, Rascal Flatts, Reba McEntire, Sheryl Crow, and Tim McGraw.
“I am thrilled beyond words to be joining the impressive team that Tyler has built here at Position Music. I feel honored that he has entrusted me to lead the charge in the financial oversight of the company. I’m excited to hit the ground running and to use my previous experience to help Position Music continue to be one of the leading independent music company powerhouses,” says Ainsworth.
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LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – The Dean Martin Family Trust announced their alliance with Iconic Artists Group to manage, develop, and expand Dean Martin’s legacy to upcoming generations. The partnership includes a plethora of rights from Martin’s storied career, including interest in his variety shows and specials, The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast series, feature films, and sound recordings from his years with Capitol and Reprise Records.
Irving Azoff commented, “Dean Martin was America in film, recordings, nightclubs, comedy & TV. He was the epitome of coolness. It is both an honor and privilege to welcome this cherished American talent to our Iconic family.”
Martin appeared in 85 films and countless television productions and sold more than 50 million albums worldwide. An accomplished film actor, television host, comedian, and singer, Martin made it all look effortless.
Martin’s long-time business manager and trustee of The Dean Martin Family Trust, Laura Lizer said, “Dean Martin’s work and cultural influence across so many media platforms, including music, television, movies, radio, and live performances, makes his diverse catalog and legacy one of the most unique assets in entertainment history. Aligning the Dean Martin Family Trust with Irving Azoff’s Iconic Artists Group secures Dean’s legacy for generations to come.”
The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
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NEDERLAND (CelebrityAccess) – Gulf Coast Records has announced the signing of Chicago blues guitar great Joanna Connor, and will release her debut CD Spring of 2023.
In 2002, The House of Blues in Chicago offered Connor and her band a weekly residency, and with her additional residency at the Kingston Mines, Connor made the decision to come off the road and work locally four nights per week, while raising her two children as a single mom. She also recorded several albums for MC Records during that decade.
In 2019, one of the videos of her fierce guitar work caught the eyes and ears of Joe Bonamassa – as well as director Adrian Lynne (Flash Dance, Fatal Attraction). Lynne offered her a scene performing in the movie, Deep Water, starring Ben Affleck and released on Hulu in March 2022.
At the same time, Bonamassa and his KTBA Records label gave her the opportunity to make a studio album. Both projects happened right before the COVID-19 lockdown. The KTBA album, 4801 South Indiana, was released in February of 2021 to immense critical acclaim and a number one spot on the Billboard blues chart.
Entering the studio this month, Connor will be recording with her Wrecking Crew 22 band who is Shaun Gotti Calloway (bass), Dan Souvigny (guitar, keyboards), Curtis Moore, Jr. (keyboards) and Jason “J-Roc” Edwards (drums, vocals). Several special guests will be announced at a later date.
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LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Renowned mixer, musician, record producer, and Dolby Atmos mix specialist Brad Wood joins the Joe D’Ambrosio Management roster.
Wood is perhaps best known for producing the debut album by Liz Phair, Exile in Guyville. As of today, it still sits on Rolling Stone’s greatest albums of all time listing.
Wood has produced albums by Sunny Day Real Estate, Veruca Salt, Placebo, and Ben Lee. He’s also recorded music for Pete Yorn and The Smashing Pumpkins, whose latest album Adore peaked at No. 2 on the Billboard Top 200 chart.
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NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Paper Bag Records welcomes Sunnsetter to its family. The newest roster addition just released their brand new single, “Float in Circles.”
Multi-instrumentalist, composer, and mixing engineer Andrew McLeod (Sunnsetter) cites influences such as My Bloody Valentine, Mount Eerie and KC Accidental. His album was written over the course of three years while grieving the loss of a close friend and bandmate and dealing with sobriety, mental health, and concepts around gender identity and queerness.
The single masters all elements and represents much of his experience: experimentation and feelings of grief and guilt over the loss of a close friend.
Sunnsetter handles their own photography, visuals, creative and more while working mostly from an idyllic home studio in Norfolk County, VA.
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DETROIT (CelebrityAccess) – Indie musician and producer Carter Vail announces his signing to the Detroit-based music company, Assemble Sound (Atlantic Records), and reveals his latest single, “I Want You,” featuring distorted guitars and synths, an upbeat dance anthem with sentimental grooves.
Vail, who is based out of Los Angeles, plans to celebrate his latest single and signing with a live show at NYC’s Mercury Lounge on December 28 with indie rockers Kid Sistr.
“I’m so excited to announce my new single ‘I Want You’” shares Vail. “The song marks two big personal milestones. It’s my first release with label Assemble Sound and the first song I wrote after moving to Los Angeles. I made it as a nod to some my favorite indie-dance tracks in high school from bands like The Killers, Cake and The Strokes. ‘I Want You’ centers around my own stream of consciousness when thinking about how awkward falling for someone can be.”
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NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) – Web3 record label and artist advocates Nvak Collective has named veteran industry exec Nikisha Bailey as General Manager (GM) for the company’s innovative roster of creatives, overseeing A&R, marketing and label operations, as announced by Co-Founders Tamar Kaprelian and Alex Salibian.
Nvak Collective is a record label and artist advocacy collective utilizing web3 technology company committed to driving change for creators, with a focus on serving female, non-binary, LGBTQ+ talent from emerging markets like West Asia, the Middle East, and North and East Africa
Bailey began her music career as an intern at Atlantic Records before rising to Head of A&R Administration, Artist Partners with the label, working on key records for talent such as Kehlani, Charlie Puth and Bazzi among many others. She also held the role of VP of A&R Administration and Operations for the Los Angeles-based Artist Partner Group (APG).
“No matter what she does, as an executive, entrepreneur, people manager and philanthropist, Nikisha builds on her lifelong commitment to music, first and foremost,” commented Salibian in making the announcement. “She proves an invaluable creative perspective to this new post.”
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