Downtown Music Ups Emily Stephenson To Pres./Publishing As Mike Smith Departs

Stephenson (Photo: Ebru Yildiz / Downtown Music)

Music business services company DOWNTOWN MUSIC has promoted VP/Business Operations EMILY STEPHENSON to President/Publishing, reporting to DOWNTOWN MUSIC President PIETER VAN RIJN. STEPHENSON's promotion comes as Global President of DOWNTOWN MUSIC SERVICES MIKE SMITH is exiting to pursue what the company calls "several personal projects" as well as charitable work on the boards of TEENAGE CANCER TRUST, EARTHPERCENT, IN PLACE OF WAR, and THE CREATIVE SOCIETY. In addition, EVP/Creative Services JEDD KATRANCHA has been promoted to Chief Commercial Officer/Publishing, reporting to STEPHENSON.

SMITH said, “It has been my pleasure and privilege to lead DOWNTOWN MUSIC SERVICES through a significant period of restructuring and realignment that has seen it become a global leader in artist services. I have been very fortunate during my time at the company to work with a team of highly passionate, creative and artist-focused people and with many inspiring artists, labels and music publishers. I look back on our many achievements during the last three years with pride. After nearly 40 years at the coal face of the UK music industry, I have decided to take some time away from the day-to-day business of music to refocus my energies into a number of personal, creative projects and to devote more of my time to the charitable work that is so close to my heart. “

STEPHENSON said, ”Thanks to MIKE’s fantastic leadership over the past three years, DOWNTOWN’s publishing divisions are in a great position to align our efforts and maximize revenue for our clients, whether they use DOWNTOWN MUSIC PUBLISHING, SONGTRUST or SHEER. This unified approach means that DOWNTOWN can offer the industry’s leading publishing services both at scale and in-depth, working more closely with our current and future clients at every stage.”

VAN RIJN said, “EMILY is a proven leader and DOWNTOWN PUBLISHING is excellent hands. MIKE stewarded DOWNTOWN MUSIC SERVICES through a period of great change and leaves it as a global leader. Now, with DOWNTOWN’s publishing companies aligned, we’ve created a powerful service offering that will maximize client revenue and present new opportunities to DOWNTOWN’s client base.”

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