The Music Managers Forum (MMF) has announced five new board members at its AGM held on July 10, following its first ever Management Summit.
Jill Hollywood (Echo Beach Management), former Music Week cover star Merck Mercuriadis (Hipgnosis Songs Ltd), Rebekah Tayler (ie: music), Sammy Andrews (Deviate Digital and Music Week columnist) and Liza Buddy (Chaos & Bedlam Management) have all been elected as board members.
They will each serve a fixed three-year term and add significantly to the depth of commercial experience that the MMF can draw upon.
Departing as board members in 2019 are: Andy Edwards, Claire Southwick (Primitive Management), Diane Wagg (Deluxxe Management), Stephen Budd (Stephen Budd Management) and Tom Burris (ie:music).
Paul Craig (Nostromo Management) and Kwame Kwaten (Ferocious Management) will continue, respectively, as the MMF’s Chair and Vice-Chair. Charlie Carne remains as CFO.
Speaking about the changes, Annabella Coldrick, CEO, MMF, said: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome Jill, Merck, Rebekah, Sammy and Liza to the board. All are strong-minded individuals with awesome credentials and I’m sure they’ll make a deep and valuable contribution to the MMF, ensuring the organisation continues to lead industry debate and support the careers of our members.”
All are strong-minded individuals with awesome credentials
Annabella Coldrick, MMF
Paul Craig, Nostromo Management and MMF Chair, added: “Our five new board members are all experts in their field, and will make the MMF an even stronger and well-rounded voice as we continue to deliver truly groundbreaking projects such as our Dissecting The Digital Dollar publications or the Accelerator Programme for Music Managers. I would like to thank all of them for coming onboard, as well as our departing board members - Andy, Claire, Diane, Stephen and Tom - for their engagement, energy and contributions.”
In addition to the new board members, the MMF's AGM contained discussion of the changing definition of the term "rights owner", a topic that has so dramatically been drawn attention to in light of Taylor Swift, Scott Borchetta and Scooter Braun's war of words.
Though Coldrick deferred from passing judgement on that particular situation, in her opening speech at the AGM, she noted: "These days, when we refer to a 'rights owner', that’s not simply shorthand for a record label or a music publisher. More often than not, the 'rights owner' is increasingly the artist or the creator - working as a business with their manager, and in partnership with others in the industry. The manager has become the bedrock that binds the rest of the business together."
Coldrick went out to outline how that aspect of a manager's job has evolved and the important role the MMF can play in helping them navigate it.
"Managers are increasingly not just the deal makers," she said. "But the main investors and drivers behind artists’ success. As this role grows ,so does the need for professionalisation and support for our community. Which is why it’s more important than ever that you have a professional organisation representing you, helping to educate and train, and generally fighting your corner."
The full MMF board is now as follows:
Adam Tudhope, Everybody’s
Brian Message, ATC Management
Ellie Giles, Step Music Management
Jill Hollywood, Echo Beach Management
Kwame Kwaten, Ferocious Management (Vice Chair)
Lisa Ward, Red Light Management
Liza Buddy, Chaos and Bedlam Management
Merck Mercuriadis, Hipgnosis Songs Ltd
Paul Burger, Soho Artists
Paul Craig, Nostromo Management (Chair)
Paul Crockford, Crockford Management
Rachael Bee, ILUVLIVE
Rebekah Tayler, ie:music
Ric Salmon, Harvest Entertainment
Sammy Andrews, Deviate Digital
Steven Braines, The Weird & The Wonderful
In order to promote greater diversity and inclusion, and to ensure a wider representation of managers’ perspectives, the MMF introduced new voting processes two years ago - with elected board members required to serve a fixed three-year term, and at least five members required to stand down or stand for re-election each year.
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