BMI Promotes John Coletta to Senior Vice President & Managing Director, International
BMI is pleased to announce that John Coletta has been promoted to Senior Vice President & Managing Director, International, effective immediately. Coletta, who most recently served as the Company’s Vice President of International Legal & Business Affairs, will be based in BMI’s New York office and report to Mike Steinberg, BMI’s Executive Vice President of Licensing & Creative, who will now also oversee the Company’s International department. Mike O’Neill, BMI President & CEO, made the announcement today.
Coletta, a long-time BMI executive, will lead BMI’s efforts to maximize the collection of global royalties on behalf of BMI’s songwriters, composers and publishers and will work closely with the foreign performing rights societies to improve business practices and identify growth opportunities. He will also work to modernize BMI’s reciprocal agreements and oversee global copyright initiatives.
Coletta assumes the role from Karen Buse, BMI’s Vice President International Society Relations, who had agreed to temporarily return to a full-time schedule to help manage the International team until a transition plan was completed. Buse will now work closely with Coletta on key international issues and endeavors moving forward.
Said O’Neill, “John is truly well positioned to take on this role. As our lead international lawyer, he has been integral to multiple strategic initiatives for the company and has established strong and trusted relationships with our sister societies around the world. I have no doubt that his extensive expertise in international relations paired with his deep knowledge of BMI, having started his career here, will make John a powerful advocate for our worldwide creative community.” O’Neill added, “As BMI continues to focus on global opportunities and maximizing international royalties for our affiliates, it makes perfect sense for our International team to integrate with our Licensing department, reporting to Mike Steinberg. I look forward to the great results from this partnership.”
O’Neill continued, “I would like to thank Karen for helping me manage things as we evaluated the future of our International team. I was thrilled that she agreed to return, on a temporary basis, to a full-time schedule to make sure we did not miss a beat, and I am grateful that Karen will continue to work with us, advising BMI on key international issues.”
Throughout his tenure at the Company, Coletta has held a number of roles of increasing responsibility in both the Licensing and Legal departments, including Director of Operations & Business Affairs, Senior Director of Business Affairs for Digital Licensing, Assistant Vice President of Legal and Assistant Vice President of International Legal & Business Affairs. He joined BMI in 1992 as an intern in the Media Relations department and later became BMI’s first Director of Online Communications. Coletta holds a Bachelor’s degree in Music from New York University’s Music and Business Technology program and earned his JD from Fordham Law School.
Coletta currently participates on CISAC’s Legal Committee and chairs its Legal Expert Group. He also currently serves as the Chairman of the Fasttrack Legal Committee.
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