Valeisha Butterfield has been appointed as CEO and executive director of Guitar Center Music Foundation. Butterfield previously served as co-president of The Recording Academy alongside Harvey Mason jr.. She first joined The Recording Academy in 2020 as its first chief officer of diversity and inclusion, coming in from Google where she served as the company’s global head of inclusion. Upon her departure from the Recording Academy, she returned to Google as vp of partnerships. She served as co-president alongside Harvey Mason jr. for a year, departing from the Recording Academy amicably.
Within her new role, Butterfield will work with Guitar Center Music Foundation’s board of directors and the foundation’s board president and chair, Curtis Heath.
“Music is a universal language and the most powerful tool in the world to connect people across generations,” Butterfield said in a statement. “Guitar Center sits at the center fo that extraordinary ecosystem, and this is truly a full circle moment as I help lead this next chapter of the Guitar Center Music Foundation and, together, we reimagine its influence, impact and legacy. At its core, this work is about unlocking opportunities, fueling dreams and expanding what music can make possible for the next generation.”
Heath said, “Valeisha brings the rare combination of nonprofit leadership, music industry experience and operational expertise that GCMF needs for its next stage of growth. She has spent her career building organizations, developing partnerships and bringing people together around a shared purpose. We’re excited to have her leadership as we expand the Foundation’s reach and create more opportunities for people to experience the power of music.” — Ariel King
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The Neal Agency Partners With WIN Artists
Image Credit: Courtesy Essential Broadcast Media The Neal Agency has partnered with WIN Artists in a strategic alliance that offers The Neal Agency’s clients with support in pursuing opportunities and integrations across television, film, brand partnerships and more.
The Neal Agency was launched in 2022 by two-time CMA agent of the year winner Austin Neal. The Nashville-based company represents clients including Morgan Wallen, Riley Green and Ella Langley.
“WIN Artists represent the gold standard in career stewardship, and we feel we’ve found the perfect partner to expand into the Television/Film world,” TNA founder and CEO Austin Neal said in a statement. “Our shared ‘less-is-more’ philosophy ensures that every move is intentional, and this partnership provides our artists with a launchpad to dominate new arenas.”
WIN Artists is a division of Patrick Whitesell and Jason Lublin‘s agency WIN Sports Group. The division was started by Josh Pyatt to support its partners in growing careers spanning performance, content, IP and branding.
“Austin and his team represent generational artists whose influence reaches well beyond music, and our partnership is designed to match that ambition,” says Josh Pyatt, who leads WIN Artists. “By expanding into film, television, and strategic brand ventures, WIN Artists will help TNA’s clients build enterprises that define the next era of entertainment.” — Jessica Nicholson
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Alissa Pollack (Mediabase)
RSC Worldwide promoted Alissa Pollack to president of Mediabase, which provides airplay analytics, chart intelligence and other data to the music business. Along with her new role, Pollack will also continue as president of global music marketing at iHeartMedia.
As president of Mediabase, Pollack will lead the company’s strategic direction, global expansion, product innovation and commercial growth, with an aim toward expanding Mediabase into a global music intelligence platform serving labels, broadcasters, artists and more.
“As one of my first initiatives, I’m thrilled to make more Mediabase chart data publicly accessible through our newly updated Mediabase.com site,” said Pollack in a statement. “Music fans, industry professionals, and artists can now view the Top 50 charts across every format in both the U.S. and Canada, providing greater visibility into music performance and trends across North America.” — Chris Eggertsen
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UTA Hires Six
United Talent Agency (UTA) announced the hirings of Chris Anderson to agent; Randy Fredman to agent, music brand partnerships; Jordan Golenberg to agent and Lauren Katzakian to executive, business affairs out of the company’s Los Angeles office and Anthony Brown and Becky Drouet join as agents in the London office.
In addition to the new hirings, 11 people have been promoted to coordinator, including Juan Aguirre, Dylan Bryant, Lindsey Cole, Julian Huff, Cat Ingersoll, Alia Lopotanak, Pearse Matteson, Brooke Newton, Emily Rhodes, Jenna Shatzman and Mark Soleymani.
“We’re thrilled to welcome this exceptional group of agents and executives to UTA Music, and look forward to working together in support of our clients,” global co-heads of music, Sam Kirby Yoh and David Zedeck, said in a statement. “From embracing new colleagues to recognizing our own, we’re proud to elevate a remarkably bright and promising class of coordinators. Their dedication, hard work and spirit are the driving force behind everything we do.
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Rene Erwin Mata (Frontiers Label Group)
Frontiers Label Group named Rene Erwin Mata as A&R – New York. Mata played a role in the early development of artists including Maroon 5, lovelytheband, Des Rocs and Return to Dust and has worked at labels including Columbia Records, Red Bull Records and Razor & Tie. Prior to becoming a consultant, he worked at Advanced Alternative Media for 11 years, where he managed the careers and business affairs of producers and mixers.
Outside his executive duties, Mata is a recording artist. He’s been signed to Lava, AFM Records and Vydia and toured with acts including Papa Roach, Evanescence and Helmet. He’s also played at festivals including Louder Than Life, Aftershock, Welcome to Rockville and Warped Tour. — Chris Eggertsen
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Alex Mearns, Jack London, Joanna Gregory (Slipstream Music)
Production music licensing platform Slipstream Music hired Alex Mearns as senior director of U.K. partnerships and Jack London as director of enterprise sales. Mearns will work on providing music to brands, agencies and content teams in the U.K. and Europe, while London, based in the U.S., will focus on direct relationships with brands and companies licensing music for digital and social content.
Mearns comes from Universal Production Music, where he led partnership strategy and client activations. London joins the company from Artlist, which offers AI tools and models for the creation of images, videos and voiceovers.
Elsewhere, Slipstream promoted Joanna Gregory to vp of strategy & operations at Cavendish Music, which was acquired by Slipstream in 2024 as part of a larger purchase of the production music components of Anthem Entertainment’s catalog. She reports to JD Adams, global managing director of Slipstream.
The hires follow Slipstream’s acquisition of Megatrax earlier this year. — Chris Eggertsen
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Mark Mitchell & Tim Cronin (Amuse)
Indie distribution and services company Amuse hired two execs to its artist & label services division: Mark Mitchell, who joins as general manager, and Tim Cronin, joining as senior vp and head of music. The pair will be tasked with fostering Amuse’s expansion in the U.K., to include the opening of a new London office, from which Mitchell and Cronin will lead Amuse’s artist marketing, catalog development and optimization, A&R and sales teams in London, New York and Stockholm.
Mitchell, who most recently spent a year at 0207 Def Jam/Universal Music Group, was previously co-president of Parlophone Records for more than five years. Before that, he was general manager at Atlantic Records UK. He will lead artist development, label strategy and global marketing in his new role.
Cronin boards Amuse from FUGA, where he was senior director of business development. Among other roles, he previously worked in artist management, including his work with the U.K. band Oh Wonder.
The hires come ahead of Amuse’s planned fall launch of “a new, invite-only insights platform aimed at augmenting marketing and label teams.” — Chris Eggertsen
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Tyler Bates (Oak View Group)
Image Credit: Courtesy Oak View Group Oak View Group has promoted Tyler Bates to senior vp of programming at UBS Arena. Bates previously served at venues including Prudential Center, Barclays Center and Kings Theatre. He was most recently vp of entertainment booking at Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment.
“Tyler brings an exceptional combination of programming expertise, industry relationships and a deep understanding of the New York entertainment market,” Mark Shulman, executive vp of programming and content at OVG East, said in a statement. “His track record of building programming strategies and developing meaningful partnerships across the industry makes him an outstanding addition to the UBS Arena team. We’re excited to have him lead the next chapter of programming at one of the world’s premier live entertainment venues.”
Bates said, “I’m thrilled to join UBS Arena and be given the opportunity to build on such a strong foundation. The arena has established itself as one of the premier destinations for live entertainment, and I’m excited to work with the team, our partners and the broader entertainment community to grow that success and bring an even greater range of extraordinary live entertainment experiences to the region.” — Ariel King
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Warner Music Group Opens Bengaluru Tech Hub
Warner Music Group announced the expansion of a technology hub in Bengaluru. Mahesh Rao, WMG’s director of software engineering and site lead for India, is spearheading the new division.
“We’re building a world-class music tech organization right here in Bengaluru,” Rao said in a statement. “The caliber of talent in this market is exceptional, and we’re looking for ambitious engineers and innovators who want to help shape the future of the global music industry.”
Leho Nighul, chief technology officer at WMG, said, “Bengaluru isn’t just an extension of our tech team — it’s central to WMG’s global engineering strategy. We’re investing heavily in local leadership, modern tech stacks and globally competitive compensation to attract engineers who want to solve complex, high-throughput systems problems at the intersection fo music and AI.”
Jay Mehta, managing director of Warner Music India, said, “Since establishing our presence in India six years ago with our Mumbai headquarters, WMG has been deeply committed to the market. Our global leadership recognizes the incredible opportunities here — from our vibrant creative ecosystem to our world-class technology talent. I’m delighted that Mahesh is spearheading our expansion in Bengaluru.” — Ariel King
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