Executive Action: Downtown Music
• Downtown Music announced the promotion of Emily Stephenson to President, Publishing. The Nashville-based Stephenson most recently served as the division’s VP of Business Operations, and during her 10-year tenure has been responsible for all aspects of publishing administration and client services for Downtown’s songwriter and publishing clients, including Ryan Tedder, Big Yellow Dog, and the John Lennon Estate.
In her new role, Stephenson will report to Downtown Music President, Pieter van Rijn and oversee all publishing efforts, including client acquisition and business development, A&R, rights management, and client services for the group’s publishing companies — Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust, and Sheer. Downtown’s publishing administration services currently have nearly two million songwriters and more than 1.5 million copyrights under management.
It was concurrently announced that Mike Smith is departing Downtown after nearly three years as Global President of Downtown Music Services to pursue several personal projects and to focus on his ongoing charitable work. “It has been my pleasure and privilege to lead Downtown Music Services through a significant period of restructuring and realignment that has seen it become a global leader in artist services,” Smith said. “I have been very fortunate during my time at the company to work with a team of highly passionate, creative and artist-focused people and with many inspiring artists, labels and music publishers. I look back on our many achievements during the last three years with pride. After nearly 40 years at the coal face of the UK music industry, I have decided to take some time away from the day-to-day business of music to refocus my energies into a number of personal, creative projects and to devote more of my time to the charitable work that is so close to my heart.”
Stephenson said, “Thanks to Mike’s fantastic leadership over the past three years, Downtown’s publishing divisions are in a great position to align our efforts and maximize revenue for our clients, whether they use Downtown Music Publishing, Songtrust or Sheer. This unified approach means that Downtown can offer the industry’s leading publishing services both at scale and in-depth, working more closely with our current and future clients at every stage.” Stephenson will be joined by 16-year Downtown veteran Jedd Katrancha, who is promoted to Chief Commercial Officer, Publishing. The New York-based Katrancha will report to Stephenson and oversee Business Development, A&R, and Sync for Downtown’s group of publishing companies.
Pieter van Rijn, President of Downtown Music, remarked, “Emily is a proven leader and Downtown Publishing is excellent hands. Mike stewarded Downtown Music Services through a period of great change and leaves it as a global leader. Now, with Downtown’s publishing companies aligned, we’ve created a powerful service offering that will maximize client revenue and present new opportunities to Downtown’s client base.” [Photo credit: Ebru Yildiz]
