Veteran Nashville Music Director Leslie moves forward Officially announced her new business venture, FEMCO (FEMCO (Fram Entertainment & Music), Consult the collective, providing artist development, talent booking and production, and B2B connections to the Nashville entertainment community.
Femco will use Fram’s 13-year tenure in Nashville to become Senior Vice President of Music and Talent at CMT/Paramount, and her years of working on the radio. During the CMT, Fram Executive produced the CMT Music Awards of the Year, booked CMT Crossroads, storytellers, and more. Most recently, she worked as a talent producer at CBS's "Ryman's Ringo & Friends."
"I've always wanted to build my own company, which is designed to be a business driven by purpose, aligned with my personal and professional aspirations. Through my time on radio and television, I have gained a lot of knowledge, skills and insights from a variety of roles, industries and projects, not only past events, but also the foundation of this very hard work."
Femco will also create multiple opportunities for female artists through music-centric playwright Femco Presents to increase their visibility and reach through events, sponsorships, and more. Femcountry’s first franchise is the continuation of Fram’s famous program in creating women in the next country of CMT and her passion for enhancing women’s voices in country music.
+Senior entertainment executive Joshua Simons, Dave Lory and Dick Wingate Already announced Global Entertainment Groupis a New York-based company that provides music artists with “overall management experience.” The company provides a variety of services including talent management, marketing, promotion, licensing, event management and career development. The first project includes Brian Fresco, his first single "Bad 4 You" (Bad You You) in Chance Chance and Lil Xel and Drops on June 6 as well as singer/songwriter Hannah Wicklund and her new album will be recorded this month.
Other staff include the President Jeff Riccio As the president of WEG Licensed Commodity Group, Sandy Rizzo As executive vice president of WEG Talent Management, the licensed merchandise and on-site performance team, Brad Mooberry As Chief Marketing Officer, Jenn Federici As General Manager of Artist Development. Patrick Clifford Will be the company's representative in Nashville and A&R.
Weg reached a distribution agreement with Jeff Brody, owner of Brody Distribution Group, and entered into a commodity agreement with JSR/Forward Merch with independent artists and projects signed to Weg. Weg also has a partnership with Tom Linden, whose company, CMMN PPL, will assist artists with booking as needed and procure travel support opportunities.
+ Billboard Promoted Mike Van Role in the first CEO of the publication. In this position, Van will oversee Billboard’s global brand footprint in 15 countries, as well as various aspects of strategy, revenue, business operations, real-time experience, international licensing and brand partnerships; according to the announcement, he will also oversee the business and editorial team, and Billboard’s editor-in-chief Hannah Karp now reports directly to him.
Van, who has served as Billboard president since 2022, will report to Jay Penske, Chairman and CEO of Penske Media Corporation. He previously held leadership positions in Pandora, Electronic Arts and Complex.
“Mike is a unique leader with vision and companion,” Penske said. “His passion for the Billboard brand and a clear vision for its future have always set him apart. Mike has fostered a collaborative environment where the team is committed to building a strong global business – innovative and pioneering at all levels. Watching Billboard’s earthquake growth has been inspiring over the past few years and I look forward to thriving under Mike’s leadership.”
+ Splicing Announced acquisition Spitfire AudioIt is the developer of the UK's major high-end virtual instrument library. The acquisition marks the entry of the clipping into a rapidly growing plug-in space, which adds to the company's clipping sound subscription and rent to the enterprise. These companies will start using new products, blending Spitfire Audio's film and orchestral expertise with a catalog of cut samples and an AI-powered discovery engine.
“The team of Spitfire Audio and Splice has great respect for composers, musicians and producers and is committed to celebrating and supporting their work,” said Splice CEO Kakul Srivastava. “We are all first, companies led by creators who believe that great software and technology can enhance the creative experience. Our shared vision is to develop tools that extend (rather than replace human creativity).” Srivastava added. “With Spitfire’s expressive instruments and the AI-powered platform for editing, we’re just starting to explore what’s possible.”