Condolences: Jay Frank
• Our thoughts are with the family, friends and colleagues of Jay Frank, SVP of Global Streaming Marketing at Universal Music Group, who sadly passed away on Sunday, Oct. 13 after a battle with colon cancer. According to Variety, he was only 47 years old.
Frank got his industry start as a label Manager at Ignition Records in the early ’90s, and his career quickly took off from there — he was hired by Les Garland as Sr. MD at The Box, followed by stints as VP of Programming & Label Relations at Yahoo! Music, and SVP of Music Strategy at CMT. He was also the Founder/CEO of music subscription service DigSin.
UMG Chairman & CEO Lucian Graingebroke the news of Frank’s death in a staff memo that read in part, “I’m deeply saddened to tell you that our colleague and friend Jay Frank has passed after a recurrence of cancer. Professionally, Jay leaves an immense legacy. He was a creative and tireless leader who made significant contributions to the evolution of our global marketing efforts. Many of the ways we market our artists and their music in the streaming era stems from Jay’s innovative work. But more than anything else, Jay was a loving father and husband. We send our deepest condolences to all his family.” Grainge added, “Truly, there are no words sufficient to fully express our feelings. He is gone far too soon and we will miss him dearly.”
Bob Catania, co-Founder of What’s In-Store Music, called Frank, “One of the really good guys and a visionary talent.” In a heartfelt Facebook post, promo pro Chuck Oliner, VP of Adult Alternative at AMPLIFY Entertainment Group said, “I had the honor and privilege to be a part of a small team at Ignition Records along with Jay Frank, Marcus Peterzell, Gregg Spiegel, Bob Skoro and John Mazzacco. I remember taking Jay on his first road trip to visit radio stations in the Northeast. We lost not only a great music man this morning but more importantly we lost an AMAZING HUMAN BEING wonderful father to [daughter] Alex and husband to Linda. My heart is breaking.” Information regarding a celebration of Jay’s life will be announced soon.
