SONY/ATV MUSIC PUBLISHING UK ANNOUNCES RESTRUCTURING OF SYNCHRONISATION DEPARTMENT

19 June 2014 - Press release

Sony/ATV Music Publishing UK has today announced a restructuring of its Synch and Creative Licensing department with the promotion of four executives.

James Cooper and Nick Oakes, both formerly Senior Synch & Licensing Managers, are jointly promoted to the newly created position of Head of Synch & Creative Licensing, while Chris Jones is elevated from Senior Licensing Manager to Head of Synch & Licensing. They all report into President of UK and European Creative Guy Moot.

Sarah 'Pixie' Pickering is also promoted as she moves from regional promotions executive to head of promotions, reporting into Moot.

The four executives' rise through the ranks follows lengthy periods of service at Sony/ATV and EMI Music Publishing, which has been administered by Sony/ATV since 2012, and they now head one of the music industry's biggest and most successful synchronisation departments.

Cooper has been with Sony/ATV since 2009, initially as creative manager, while was previously at independent music publisher Music Sales Film & TV, sound design audio post-production company Grand Central Sound Studios, advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi and UK film production company Revolution Films.

Oakes and Jones both previously worked at Sony/ATV predecessor EMI Music Publishing and have each completed 10 years' service across the two brands. Oakes joined EMI Music Publishing in May 2004 from music supervision company Soundlounge, while Jones started a month later straight from university.

Pickering joined Sony/ATV in 2009 and in her new role is responsible for the day-to-day management of the EMI Production Music sales team, while heading commercial promotions across Sony/ATV UK. She is also producer for Juice Music, Sony/ATV's joint-venture music library with ITV.

Sony/ATV President of UK and European Creative Guy Moot said: "It's great that at Sony/ATV we have executives capable of rising up through the ranks and I'm thrilled to see James, Nick, Chris and Sarah progressing into senior positions. We're a big company so we need this level of expertise and we've got four very senior people driving forward what is not only a bigger synch team than any other company but also the very best."

Sony/ATV's Synch and Creative Licensing Department prides itself on a pro-active approach when working with clients, while within the team there are individuals each specialising in different areas of the business, including film, television, games, print, merchandising, multi-media and apps. Activity ranges from placing songs in big-budget movies and high-profile advertising campaigns to securing merchandising deals, which have recently included licensing Beatles mugs and T-shirts bearing the legend "Last Night A DJ Saved My Life". Supporting all this is a dedicated marketing person who is tasked with promoting the company's songwriters and repertoire to potential clients.

This pro-active stance has included an award-winning ad for the Mercedes Sounds With Power campaign for which the department came up with a mash-up of four songs, comprising Sub Focus's Tidal Wave, Tinie Tempah's Pass Out, the Barry Gray Orchestra's Stingray theme and Little By Little performed by Dusty Springfield.

The Synch and Creative Licensing team has additionally worked on some of the most striking commercials currently airing on TV. These include the latest campaign advertising a tie-up between Vodafone and Spotify in which a series of senior citizens are seen listening to the Sony/ATV songs Pass Out (Tinie Tempah), Milkshake (Kelis) and Waiting All Night (Rudimental).

Other current campaigns using Sony/ATV repertoire and worked on by the department include ones for Foster's Radler (Burning Heart by Survivor), Sainsbury's (a cover of Depeche Mode's Just Can't Get Enough by Megan Wyler), Buxton Water (Battle Without Honor Or Humanity by Tomoyasu Hotei, as previously used in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill, Vol. 1) and the Lennon/McCartney classics All You Need Is Love and With A Little Help From My Friends used respectively by Royal Mail and Dementia Friends.

Sony/ATV has looked to explore new and innovative ways to interact with advertising agencies, brands and music supervisors, utilising its extensive repertoire that mixes classic and contemporary songs with production, library and commissioned music.