Executive Turntable: BMG's European leader steps down and recipe promotes two agents

Welcome to another edition of Executive Turntable, Billboard's comprehensive(ish) roundup of promotions, hires, departures and firings — and everything in between — across music. While you're here, we also have a weekly interview series featuring a single executive and a regularly updated gallery honoring many of the industry figures we've lost over the year.

Maximilian Kolb announced his retirement as BMGExecutive vp of repertoire and marketing for continental Europe, effective at the end of the month. Kolb, who runs things in Europe from late 2021, said the industry is in the middle of “one of the most revolutionary periods” and that it's time for a “new chapter” in its life. Taking over Kolb's responsibilities in Europe on an interim basis will be Alistair Norbury, head of repertoire and marketing in the UK and Asia Pacific regions. BMG CEO Thomas Coesfeld praised Kolb's contributions over the years, saying “his leadership and vision have been instrumental in the growth and success of our business in GSA and Continental Europe.” Kolb joined BMG from Sony in 2012 as director of A&R and was promoted to director of recorded music A&R for Germany, Austria and Switzerland (GSA) five years later. In 2019, he became CEO of the GSA block, and then took on his most recent role in October 2021. Some of Kolb and company's most recent wins include the acquisition of German independent Telamo and the addition of rights packages from Jean -Michel Jarre, Tina Turner, Martin Solveig, Cro and others. Kolb has not telegraphed his next move professionally.

In the USA, BMG elevated Jen Morgan to vice president, global content and creative, executing content creation initiatives for BMG artists, as well as developing and executing content marketing and sales strategies that support BMG's artists and global goals. Morgan previously served as vice president, creative and illustrator and joined BBRMG in 2010. –Jessica Nicholson

In the meantime…

Recipe songs are promoted Ciara Behar and Eddie Furchel each to vice president of A&R at the publisher founded by Dr. Luke. Behar was previously Senior Director of A&R and during her seven years at the company signed or collaborated with many top writers including Play-N-Skillz, DallasK, ALOISIO, JayM, LU KALA, Space Primates, Chloe George, Micah Premnath. , Seb (1Mind). Prescribed since early 2021, most recently as senior A&R executive, Fourcell has found success with a roster that includes Grammy winner Lunchmoney Lewis (“All My Life” by Lil Durk and J Cole) and Jay-Z collaborator Fridayy, as well as B Ham, Kaine , MizzyLoft and Baerose, among others. Fourcell earned his stripes in the industry at Mary J. Blige's MJB Productions, where he rose from intern to head of A&R. “Siara and Eddie surpass our writers and creatives at Prescription Songs,” said Dr. Luke. “We're so grateful and proud to announce their well-deserved promotions and continued leadership roles.” Both executives report to Rhea Pasricha, head of West Coast A&R, and Katie Fagan, head of A&R at Prescription Songs Nashville.

Music Group PULSE are promoted Steven Granger to senior vice president of A&R. Foley is celebrating his tenth year at PULSE, where in 2014 he started as A&R coordinator for its publishing department before being quickly promoted to creative director that same year. He eventually rose to vice president of A&R for publishing, his most recent title at the company, where he is based in Los Angeles and reports to Ashley Calhoun, president. Prior to PULSE, Gringer worked in A&R at Shapiro Bernstein Music Publishing. Gringer's PULSE portfolio includes Noah Kahan collaborator Gabe Simon, Jack Harlow producer Angel Lopez, Latin music maker Manuel Lara, writer-producer DVLP and more. “What makes Steven truly incredible as an A&R executive is his deft ability to work across genres, creating pop, Latin, hip-hop and international opportunities for our roster of songwriters and producers,” enthused Calhoun and co-CEOs Scott Cutler and Josh Abraham; in a statement. “As we continue to take our clients' careers to the next level, Steven's work over the past 10 years at PULSE Music Group has been a key part of that success.”

Live music company Mammoth employee Rob Owens as chairman of the world tour and Angela Brown as president of global tour marketing. Owens was most recently vice president of talent at NoCap Shows and earlier in his career held director-level gigs at AEG Presents and Nederlander Concerts — where he closed the historic Greek Theater in Los Angeles for years. Brown, who is based in St. Louis, joined Mammoth after 27 years at Live Nation, where she rose through the ranks in marketing and along the way helped promote tours for Beyoncé, Drake and Billy Joel, among many others.

Alyssa Kitchen was promoted to general manager of the legendary Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York. The New Jersey native and self-proclaimed former “emo kid” was previously assistant GM and director of finance at the venue. Before the Capitol Attack (Sorry), Kitchen served in senior accounting roles at Relix Media Group and Hear & There.

Jelena Grozdanic is the new vp of music at FivePointFivea soon-to-be-launched welltech app that will offer live and on-demand categories of features breathing. Grozdanich (GROWING-duh-nitch) comes from a 10-year run at Sony Music Entertainment and Columbia Records, where he became a director in the latter's film and television licensing department. While at Sony/Columbia, he represented a who's-who of influential artists including Beyoncé, Adele, Miles Davis, A Tribe Called Quest and Elvis Presley, among others. During this decade, she also founded her own talent management company (Guardian MGMT) and wellness community (TheSecret.LA). Grozdanich is based in Los Angeles.

NASHVILLE NOTES: Writer/Artist Development Company Eclipse Music Group employee Courtney Christ as vice president of publication. He joins EMG from Anthem Entertainment, where as a senior director he worked with writers such as Ronnie Bowman, Early James and Brit Taylor, among others. “Courtney is a songwriter's best friend, ultimate ally, and has the best ears in the business,” said Penny Gattis, partner at Eclipse… East Coast Entertainment added Beth Potter at their Nashville office. Potter arrived from Downtown Band Entertainment, home of the Music City-based party band of the same name. ECE recently signed on to represent the band.

Lisa Goetz recently left The Recording Academy, where she oversaw jazz and comedy genres for the Grammy Awards, to start her own consulting firm. LGA Creative Consulting will work with emerging artists and entrepreneurs from concept to creation for their creative projects. Prior to joining the Recording Academy in 2011, Goich worked in radio, web production (mostly for Carole King), and was the moderator and web and social media guru for the Playboy Jazz festival.

Alana Battaglia joined the publicity team at The unspeakable. In her new role, she will manage accounts with notable clients such as talent agency UTA and its new Creators of UTA division as well as Don Toliver's new Fortnite game Hardstone – a playback experience linked to his new album, Hardstone Psycho. Battaglia was previously director of public relations at gaming and esports organization FaZe Clan, where she led strategy and execution for internal and external communications and publicity. Prior to that, he was on the digital publicity team at Universal Pictures. –Chris Eggertsen

ICYMI:

Mythical Columbia Records and PolyGram Chairman Dick Usher He passed away at the age of 92. Alexis Lanternier appointed CEO of the French streamer Deezerreplacing the interim CEO To Burger … HYBE are promoted Jason Jaesang Lee to be the new CEO of the company, replacing Jiwon Park … and Cobalt long raised stem Bob Bruderman in the role of chief digital officer.

Last week's turntable: Tree Paine's Former Assistant Comes Full Circle