National News: BMG Chrysalis, SoundExchange, Sanctuary5B

BMG Chrysalis yesterday (11/16) announced the appointment of Wendy Griffiths as SVP, Marketing at the Los Angeles offices, responsible for all US marketing initiatives. Additionally, Griffiths will collaborate with the A&R department and international affiliates and will report to Laurent Hubert, EVP, COO.

“This job is the culmination of everything I have done previously in the music business,” said Griffiths, whose experience comes from 25 years as SVP at Warner Brother Records in the video and film departments.

Griffiths played a key role in the development of Alanis Morissette, Green Day, Michael Bublé, Michelle Branch, Muse, Linkin Park and developed global marketing campaigns for Fleetwood Mac, Madonna, Neil Young, Cher, and Eric Clapton.

• • •

Jonathan Bender, COO, SoundExchange

SoundExchange announced the appointment of Jonathan C. Bender as COO, to oversee operational structure, repertoire management and tracking database to collect and distribute music royalties on behalf of artists and labels.

“Jonathan has a solid reputation, most notably for pioneering digital content development for some of the world’s leading record labels, and a track record in growing and transforming organizations,” said SoundExchange President Michael Huppe.

Jonathan holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and brings more than 20 years of music industry expertise to his position where he served in senior operational roles at Concord Music Group, Universal Music Group, and EMI Music.

• • •

Sanctuary5B Entertainment, the management home to Fleetwood Mac, ZZ Top and others, has entered an ongoing partnership with Synergy Global Entertainment (SGE). The exclusive agreement is set to produce a variety of tours, destination festivals and other branded projects.

“The opportunity to work closely with [Sanctuary5B] is something I have imagined for a long time, and now it is a reality. We collectively have a very broad base of experience that will allow us to have laser focus on developing and creating new entertainment ventures,” said John L. Reese, founder and President of Synergy Global Entertainment, Inc.

SGE’s 2012 festival lineup will include six to eight major festivals performing over 250 dates and playing to over 2 million fans in over 20 countries.

5B Artist Management and Sanctuary Artist Management merged earlier this year to create Sanctuary5B Entertainment.