Shamel Earns AWAL VP Stripes

• AWAL, Kobalt’s recording company, has promoted Nicki Shamel to VP of Digital Sales & Account Management, North America. Based in Kobalt’s Los Angeles office, Ms. Shamel was most recently Sr. Director of Digital Sales & Account Management.

Over the past year, Shamel led the restructure of AWAL’s digital team by doubling it in size to manage the more than 200% growth in monthly streams since joining the company. As VP of AWAL’s digital partnership efforts, Shamel has taken the lead on new opportunities with Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Amazon Music, and other established global digital players. Shamel’s team executes strategic global digital marketing and promotional campaigns resulting in millions of streams for artists like Lauv, Kim Petras, Omar Apollo and Snoh Aalegra, among others.

In making the announcement of Shamel’s VP upgrade, AWAL President Ron Cerrito said, “AWAL is in the midst of an exciting period of growth across our roster, marketing capability, and investment in artist careers. One of the most important resources for our artists is our team. Nicki is an energetic and hands-on leader whose competitive nature and dedication to the growth of AWAL makes her an invaluable member of our team. We’re proud to announce her continued growth with AWAL as the VP of Digital Sales & Account Management, North America.”

Shamel joined AWAL in 2017 as the team’s New York-based Director of Digital Sales & Account Management and was quickly elevated to a Senior Director role in Los Angeles. Now, less than a year later, in her new role as VP, she will oversee the digital strategy for all of North America. Shamel remarked, “I am truly grateful to Lonny Olnick and Ron Cerrito for this tremendous opportunity to grow my career at AWAL. Artists are at the center of everything we do, and I’m continually inspired by the leadership at Kobalt to create, deliver and achieve the most competitive results for our partners. I couldn’t be more thrilled to start this next chapter leading an incredible team who is at the forefront of what marketing and promotion looks like in today’s world.”