Hipgnosis has hired Ted Cockle as president and Amy Thomson as chief catalogue officer.
The immediate appointment of Cockle follows his exit from EMI after a seven-year spell at Universal’s market-leading label.
Whilst label president, Cockle managed the recorded music for artists such as Queen, Elton John, Taylor Swift, Katy Perry, George Michael, Justin Bieber, Emeli Sande, The Killers, Lorde, and Bastille. He also handled the launch of Lewis Capaldi.
Prior to this, Cockle served for 10 years at Sony Music under the guidance of Rob Stringer. He went on to become co-president of Island Records, handling the careers of artists such as Amy Winehouse, Florence & The Machine, Paul Weller, Tom Jones and Mumford & Sons.
Amy Thomson previously had roles in management and marketing, where she oversaw the careers of Swedish House Mafia, DJ Snake, Seal and many others. Over her career as a manager, Thomson took Swedish House Mafia to Madison Square Garden. Her management of DJ Snake included the release and marketing of his album Carte Blanche and the single Taki Taki, taking streams for DJ Snake in 2019 to over eight billion, with a focus on emerging markets.
Her marketing campaigns have included Yeezus with Kanye West and his team, launching the campaign with 66 building projections of New Slaves worldwide in one night. Thomson closed her management business in December 2019 to focus on catalogue management and designed an online system to help artists find, track and trace their catalogue. The platform has undergone two test phases with major names lending their catalogues and will launch, including with Hipgnosis’ catalogue, in 2021.
In a statement, Hipgnosis said: “The duo will be applying their proven form, structure and process to continue to grow and care for songs and their legacy within the growing Hipgnosis Songs catalogue globally.”
Merck Mercuriadis, founder of Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited and The Family (Music) Limited, said: “It’s a testament to the iconic song catalogue that we have assembled over the last two-plus years, and our songwriters, that we have been able to attract executives with the extraordinary talent, pedigree and success of Ted and Amy. I’ve been very vocal about disrupting the world of traditional publishing with 'song management. In song management we actively manage our songs with great responsibility to higher levels of success. I don’t believe there’s a traditional publisher that has brought together this level of expertise to manage its songs. Our results have been strong and with Ted and Amy now on board I look forward to everything their passion and know how will help us to achieve.”
Ted Cockle said: “Each year of my career, I've witnessed how the excellence and magic of individual songs proves to be the catalyst for streaming success, album sales, artist careers, filled venues and growing market shares. Alongside Merck, Amy and the Hipgnosis team I'm very much looking forward to help re-establish and to help grow the value of these classic songs.”
Amy Thomson said: “I genuinely love managing songs. They’re like stories to me, chapters in the life of the songwriter and the impact they have in creating new stories for the listener. Over the last three years I became obsessed with diving into the care of catalogue as we see songs become pensions. The care and attention of nurturing it for its entire life. Songs are legacies and managing them as if each one was its own Artist has become a passion and now I have a chance to work on some of the greatest catalogues on earth with Merck and Ted and I cannot wait to start.”
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