MTV’s long-standing music chief and doyenne of the Video Music Awards, Amy Doyle, 44, just got a major bump up from executive vp music and talent strategy, a role she had held since 2005, to executive vp music content and platforms strategy. She tells Billboard what her new title means.
Describe your new role.
Previously, I was doing a lot of the overarching music strategy, where I would connect a lot of the MTV platforms around everything we did musically, and someone else would bring the Twitter and Spotify relationships to the fold. Now, I will seek out those new partnerships.
Will you be making additional hires?
Yes, a vp of strategy and operations — someone who can help me with gathering analytics and preparing presentations, budgeting and resourcing music initiatives. So when we go to one of these potentially new platform partners, they’ll help negotiate those plans. I labored over the job description for this role because I need someone both left- and right-brained, who comes with a business sensibility, thinks strategically and can interact in a creative space.
Is it challenging trying to get more music on the channel?
There’s actually more music exposed across the MTV and VH1 platforms than ever before. The combined musical assets — nine TV screens, a big footprint in social and online music experiences — add up to more than we’ve ever done in music in either brand’s history. Developing those new programs and partnering with our sales team and bringing them to sponsors is a big part of what I’ll be doing.
What are some recent examples of that?
The Ed Sheeran album launch and premiere, which was MTV, VH1 and Twitter sponsored by Pepsi. Also, recently with Taylor Swift, both brands came together and we were able to go to her with one plan and essentially get a day of her time where we were able to create and customize content with her that lived across all of these different platforms.
