Warner/Chappell Music and Rhino Entertainment are unifying synchronization operations to create more of a one-stop shop for recorded music and music publishing rights, Billboard has learned. As part of the new offering, Ron Broitman, Warner/Chappell’s senior VP-head of synchronization, is being promoted to executive VP-head of synchronization for Warner/Chappell Music and Rhino Entertainment. Broitman and his team will help create opportunities in film, TV, advertising, video games and new media for Warner/Chappell artists and songwriters as well as the company’s frontline recorded music labels. Based in Los Angeles, Broitman will continue to report to Cameron Strang, chairman-CEO of Warner/Chappell Music.
“Combining the expertise and resources of these two excellent teams, under Ron’s experienced leadership, will help us set a new standard in licensing,” Strang said in a statement. “The united operation will be faster-moving, better-connected and more innovative, resulting in an enhanced service and enabling us to generate even more significant opportunities for artists and songwriters.”
“I’m honored to be given this unique role and to be working with this incredible array of recording artists and songwriters, and rich repertoire of music,” Broitman added in a statement. “Addressing our clients’ synchronization needs in a single conversation not only makes the licensing process easier, it means we can offer a wider choice of music, and foster deeper creative collaborations between recording artists, songwriters and clients.”
Merging publishing and recorded music offerings is an increasingly common practice among publishers to simplify their pitch process to music supervisors, streamline billing and, ultimately, better package multiple publishing and master rights for big campaigns. Case in point: Chevrolet’s recent branding spot that aired during the Grammys touting the auto’s new “Find New Roads” tagline, which featured snippets of four different campaigns and three synchs from Broitman’s team — two from publishing (Theophilus London’s “All Around The World” and Jimmy Luxury & The Tommy Rome Orchestra’s “Cha Cha Cha”) and one master from Rhino (Frank Sinatra’s “Fly Me To The Moon”). Warner/Chappell had a particularly successful Grammy night this year, booking 10 synchs that aired throughout the telecast compared to the seven it scored for this year’s Super Bowl.
Broitman is a publishing and synch veteran, having most recently served as senior VP of film, TV & advertising at Sony/ATV Music Publishing prior to Warner/Chappell. At Sony/ATV, Broitman led a 16-person team across all TV, film, commercial, video game and new-media projects. He also spent 10 years at BMG Music Publishing U.S., including a role as VP of film, TV and advertising music, and began his career in commercial production for Propaganda Films. [Billboard.biz]
