Claire McAuley named SVP of Global Administration at Warner Chappell Music
18 December 2019 - Press releaseJo Smith to take up new role as International Director of Society and Industry Affairs
Claire McAuley is being promoted to the role of Senior Vice President of Global Administration at Warner Chappell Music, the music publishing arm of Warner Music Group.
McAuley will take up the role on January 1 and report to Carianne Marshall, Warner Chappell Music’s Co-Chair and Chief Operating Officer. She will split her time between the publisher’s LA headquarters and London office.
Her focus will be on continually improving the company’s technology and further developing its customer service ethos, so that its teams worldwide provide an unrivalled administration service. McAuley will also direct the publisher’s relationship with collecting societies on administration and operational issues.
She will be working closely with Jo Smith, who has been promoted into the newly created role of International Director of Society and Industry Affairs. Smith will oversee Warner Chappell Music’s interaction with collecting societies on areas such as commercial and legal affairs, as well as public policy issues.
Claire McAuley says: “I’m honoured to have been asked to step-up and take on this crucial role. To support our songwriters effectively we need to have great technology, but also to develop our teams around the world so that they can go into bat for our songwriters on a daily basis. That’s how we’ll write the next chapter in the innovation of publishing administration and be the market leader in this crucial area.”
Jo Smith adds: “I’m pleased to be taking a lead on coordinating our policy approach to collecting societies worldwide. We want to engage with every society to review existing practices and make sure that we’re maximising the money paid out to our writers. In a fast-changing music industry we need to make sure that every player is doing all it can to enable creators to benefit as much as possible from their work.”
Carianne Marshall and Guy Moot, Warner Chappell Music’s Co-Chairs, conclude: “We’re here to ensure that songwriters are heard and we want to reflect that in the way that we work with collecting societies. Claire and Jo have got the skills and experience to support our teams and ensure we’re tailoring our approach to each individual society. Getting administration right is about more than just great technology, it’s about having a team that’s focused on problem solving and delivering amazing customer service.”
McAuley began her career in the music industry back in 2006, working for BMG Music Publishing. She went on to undertake a number of roles Universal Music Publishing, advertising agency TBWA and industry body the Music Publishers Association. Her responsibilities spanned administration, business and commercial affairs, giving her an extensive background in copyright, royalties, policy and collective rights management.
She joined the team at Warner Chappell Music in 2018 as VP, International Operations. Since taking up that position, she has played a key role in optimising work flow across its UK departments, including setting up a series of valuable staff training sessions, reviewing its copyright and royalties practices, and working closely with its digital team.
Smith has worked at Warner Chappell Music since 2014, joining the company in the UK as Director of Legal and Business Affairs. She previously worked at EMI Music Publishing and Sony/ATV Music Publishing. She has sat on the board of PRS for Music since 2016.
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