BMI Announces Key Promotions Within Creative Team
Barbara Cane, Samantha Cox, Tracie Verlinde, Mason Hunter and Wardell Malloy All Elevated to New Roles
BMI today announced a series of key executive promotions within its Creative team. Barbara Cane, BMI’s Vice President of Creative, Los Angeles has been elevated to the newly-created role of Vice President, Worldwide Creative and Advisor to the EVP of Creative & Licensing. Samantha Cox has been elevated to Vice President, Creative, New York, and Tracie Verlinde has been named Vice President, Creative, Los Angeles. Mason Hunter has been elevated to Assistant Vice President, Creative, Nashville; and Wardell Malloy has been promoted to Assistant Vice President, Creative, Los Angeles. These promotions are effective immediately.
In her new role, Cane will work together with BMI’s Creative executives, continuing her efforts supporting BMI’s songwriting community while cultivating essential industry relationships. She will also share her expertise in an advisory capacity to BMI Executive Vice President, Creative & Licensing, Mike Steinberg. Cane will be based in both Los Angeles and New York and will report to Steinberg.
In announcing Cane’s promotion, Mike O’Neill, President & CEO, BMI, commented, “Barbara’s reputation within the industry is unparalleled, and I have asked her to continue her work nurturing, developing and guiding BMI’s songwriters, but now from a global perspective. As one of my most trusted advisors, I know Barbara will also provide valuable counsel to Mike Steinberg, who will rely on her guidance and expertise as he navigates his new role leading BMI’s Creative team.”
Steinberg added, “Working more closely with Barbara, who has dedicated her entire career to BMI, will give me the opportunity to learn from the best. She will be a trusted guide and sounding board, and I look forward to deepening our partnership going forward.” He added, “I am also excited to acknowledge and elevate the stellar roster of talented executives within BMI, allowing us to continue to pave the way for a vibrant future for the creative and business communities we serve.”
As Vice Presidents of Creative in New York and Los Angeles, respectively, Cox and Verlinde will continue to discover and sign new pop, rock and indie songwriters, publishers and bands, while furthering educational programs and opportunities to build their careers. They will each oversee the respective Pop, Rock, Indie teams based in New York and Los Angeles. Cox, a 20-year veteran of BMI, has been a critical force in the songwriter community since joining the company, and she has been instrumental in shaping the careers of numerous BMI songwriters, including Lady Gaga, Halsey, Ammar Malik, Bebe Rexha and My Chemical Romance, among many others.
Verlinde, also a 20-year BMI veteran, has been a key member of the Creative team throughout her career, affiliating numerous writers, including The Lumineers, Jack White, and Linkin Park, among others, and developing multiple events and showcases to highlight and promote BMI’s talented songwriters. Both Cox and Verlinde will report to BMI’s new Senior Vice President of Creative, who is yet to be named, and until then, will report to Steinberg.
In his role as Assistant Vice President, Creative, Nashville, Hunter will work closely with Jody Williams, Vice President, Creative, Nashville, to whom he will report, to help support the thriving Nashville songwriting community and manage Nashville’s team of writer representatives. In addition, he will continue to identify new partners that align with BMI’s business needs, create new revenue streams to benefit BMI’s affiliated songwriters, composers and publishers, and maximize existing partnerships for mutual brand awareness. Hunter joined BMI in 2000.
As Assistant Vice President, Creative, Los Angeles, Malloy will continue to sign and foster the growth of songwriters and producers in the R&B, hip-hop and gospel genres, while overseeing showcases, workshops and panels aimed at educating and supporting the creative community. Since joining BMI in 2002, Malloy has been instrumental in signing multiple BMI songwriters including Alex Da Kid, A$AP Rocky, Chris Brown and Tory Lanez, among others. He will continue to report to BMI Vice President, Creative, Atlanta, Catherine Brewton.
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