SESAC Music Group, owner of the performance rights org SESAC, has announced that Samantha Saturn is leaving her role as the company’s Chief Marketing Officer after seven years in the role.
SESAC credits Saturn with “elevating SESAC Music Group’s profile, leading brand transformation, expanding communications strategy, and driving digital growth across the company’s portfolio.”
Saturn “provided tremendous value and leadership to SESAC Music Group, guiding our brand and communications with vision, creativity, and impact,” SESAC Music Group Chairman and CEO John Josephson said in a statement issued on Tuesday (October 7).
“Her leadership was instrumental in our digital growth and in strengthening our relationships across the music industry. While we will miss her greatly, I am excited to see Samantha begin a new chapter, one she is excited about.”
Saturn called her time at SESAC “one of the most rewarding professional experiences of my career,” adding she’s “grateful to have worked alongside such a talented global team of passionate music fans, dedicated to driving value for songwriters, composers, and artists as well as music publishers and record labels.”
She added: “My passion as a creative leader focused on driving innovation and revenue will continue to be my focus as I move into my next chapter in the music industry.” Saturn did not elaborate on her plans going forward.
“My passion as a creative leader focused on driving innovation and revenue will continue to be my focus as I move into my next chapter in the music industry.”
Samantha Saturn, SESAC Music Group
SESAC Music Group, which has been owned by investment giant Blackstone since 2017, recently completed a USD $889 million whole business securitization (WBS), reflecting the growing music industry trend of turning to bond markets to fund growth. The WBS issuance was three times oversubscribed, reflecting strong demand for the bonds.
The notes were backed by “substantially all” of SESAC Music Group’s businesses, including the SESAC PRO, Harry Fox Agency (HFA), AudioSalad, HAAWK and other businesses.
Its PRO represents artists including Ariana Grande, Kurt Cobain, Jack Harlow, Billie Joe Armstrong and Axl Rose, and composers of music in TV shows like Seinfeld, Grey’s Anatomy, Suits and Modern Family, along with films like Cars 3, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Frozen and Napoleon Dynamite.
SESAC was thrown into the news cycle last fall when songs by SESAC-represented artists and songwriters became inaccessible on YouTube in the US due to a licensing dispute between the PRO and the video platform.
Songs from artists like Adele, Kendrick Lamar, Nirvana, Bob Dylan, Green Day, Mariah Carey and R.E.M. disappeared for US users on YouTube, but were reinstated a few days later when SESAC and YouTube reached a new licensing agreement.Music Business Worldwide
