Claire McAuley has been promoted to the role of SVP of global administration at Warner Chappell Music.
McAuley will take up the role on January 1 and report to Carianne Marshall, Warner Chappell Music’s co-chair and COO. She will split her time between the publisher’s LA headquarters and London office.
Her focus will be on technology and customer service for the company’s 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.
McAuley said: “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.”
To support our songwriters effectively we need to have great technology
Claire McAuley
Smith added: “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.”
Marshall and Guy Moot, CEO and co-chair, said: “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 music industry career in 2006 at BMG Music Publishing. She went on to undertake a number of roles at Universal Music Publishing, advertising agency TBWA and the Music Publishers Association. She has an extensive background in copyright, royalties, policy and collective rights management.
She joined Warner Chappell Music in 2018 as VP, international operations. Since taking up that position, she has reviewed the publisher’s copyright and royalties practices.
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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