Downtown makes raft of executive hires and promotions following Andrew Bergman’s appointment as CEO – Music Business Worldwide

Downtown Music Holdings has made three key executive moves and promotions.

These are the first leadership changes under new CEO Andrew Bergman, who assumed the Chief Executive role last month, with founder, Justin Kalifowitz, taking up a new position as DMH’s Executive Chairman.

Downtown says that the new appointments are part of the firm’s ongoing efforts to drive what it calls “operational and strategic alignment” following its shift to focus exclusively on music services earlier this year.

Andrew Sparkler has been promoted to Chief Business Officer (CBO), a newly created position, from his previous role of Executive Vice President, Business Development.

Brad Yuan, most recently Senior Vice President of Operations, has been appointed Chief Operating Officer (COO).

Meanwhile, Loredana Cacciotti is moving to Downtown Music Holdings from FUGA, a Downtown subsidiary, to assume the role of Senior Vice President, Digital Licensing & Business Affairs.

Sparkler and Yuan will continue to report directly to Bergman, and Cacciotti will report to Chief Revenue Officer Dewayne Ector.

As Chief Business Officer, Sparkler, is responsible for the overall business growth of Downtown across its client verticals.

Since joining the company in 2014, Sparkler has played a key role in Downtown’s strategic growth, leading the internal team responsible for evaluating potential acquisitions for the company.

He also played a critical role in securing publishing administration deals on Downtown’s behalf with Ryan Tedder, Phish, John Prine, and Jason Isbell, among others.

A lawyer by training, prior to Downtown, Sparkler held leadership roles at ASCAP and was a practicing music attorney.

Yuan, who assumes the role as Downtown’s Chief Operating Officer previously held by Bergman, began his tenure as the Global Head of Rights Management for Downtown subsidiary Songtrust.

Since joining the organization in 2018, he has played an essential part in leading integration efforts related to Downtown’s M&A activities, including various initiatives around organizational alignment, and improving operational strategy and efficiency.

Yuan has overseen Downtown’s COVID-19 response and impact across various stakeholders and facilities.

Cacciotti, who is based in London, has been appointed Senior Vice President, Digital Licensing & Business Affairs. In this newly created position, Downtown says she will play a lead role in negotiating the commercial and legal aspects of licenses for the millions of tracks managed by Downtown and its subsidiaries.

With nearly 15 years of experience as a music lawyer, Cacciotti most recently served as the Head of Commercial Legal Affairs & Licensing for Downtown subsidiary FUGA.

Since joining the company in 2016, she led and evolved the business affairs department and played a central role in legal and commercial negotiations for all of FUGA’s licences with label clients and digital streaming providers (DSPs) worldwide.

“I’m very proud of the breadth and depth of experience reflected on our executive team.”

Andrew Bergman

Bergman said: “I’m very proud of the breadth and depth of experience reflected on our executive team.

“The promotions of Andrew, Brad, and Loredana are recognition of the value they’ve already delivered Downtown, and confidence in their ability to further our growth strategy.

“They demonstrate an unwavering commitment to our vision of building an equitable global music industry and have the know-how to make it happen.”

Downtown currently manages more than 23 million music assets on behalf of over 1 million artists and enterprise clients from 145 countries.

 Music Business Worldwide