JAY FRANK JOINS CMT AS SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, MUSIC STRATEGY
06/26/07
NASHVILLE – June 26, 2007 – Jay Frank has joined CMT as Senior Vice President, Music Strategy, it was announced today by Brian Philips, executive vice president and general manager, CMT. Frank will oversee CMT’s Music and Talent division, and all of the network’s on-air and digital music initiatives across multiple platforms, including CMT’s vast range of properties such as films, games, touring and other program enterprise businesses. Serving as the brand liaison to the country music community, Frank will relocate to CMT’s Nashville office from Santa Monica and report to Philips. Frank will begin his post at CMT in August.
Frank comes to CMT from Yahoo! Music where he was Vice President of Music Programming and Label Relations, responsible for all the company’s music programming, working closely with record labels and managers to oversee artist promotions. He was integral in securing music premieres and performance exclusives for Yahoo! Music from such artists as Madonna, Faith Hill, Big & Rich, Toby Keith, Eminem, Nelly, Linkin Park, 50 Cent, Coldplay and more.
“Jay is a pioneer, among the first to see the potential for music on what literally became the biggest music website in the world,” said Philips. “He’s an experienced dealmaker in the fastest-breaking field of entertainment – digital music. He finds and breaks new artists, has a natural flair for promotion, and will make sure music saturates every CMT platform. Jay enjoys a terrific reputation with our partners – the talent, managers and labels – and belongs in the MTVN Music/Logo Group family.”
Frank adds: "For several years, I've watched country music change into a genre that embraces many styles and is no longer just enjoyed by pure country fans. Working with the largest country music network and website in the world is an enormous opportunity for me to help strategize the growth of these new fans and take country music to new, unforeseen heights. The combination of the amazing talent on the entire CMT team, alongside the format's growth potential, creates an exciting opportunity I can't wait to begin."
While at Yahoo! Music (formerly LAUNCH), Frank is credited with growing its audience exponentially to a current monthly audience of approximately 25 million people. He oversaw its radio programming, with a listenership greater than any single radio station in the US. He also coordinated artist relations and was instrumental in helping break many acts, including Taylor Swift, Sugarland, Big & Rich, My Chemical Romance, Chris Brown, James Blunt, among others.
Frank has been featured on Digital Music panels throughout the world such as South by Southwest, MIDEM, Billboard Radio Monitor, DemExpo, MusExpo, Jupiter Plug.In, Canadian Music Week, R&R, Winter Music Conference, CMJ and others. Frank is the programmer for the ‘Ypulse Music Mashup’ conference and is also on the committee for the ‘What Teens Want’ conference.
Prior to joining Yahoo! Music, Jay was senior music director at The Box Music Network, managing all daily music activity on the music video network and coordinating programming efforts that resulted in the network's first Emmy award. He has also acted as marketing and A&R for Ignition Records, managed a live music venue, programming broadcast radio stations and creating two local music video shows.
Frank holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Ithaca College in Ithaca, NY and sits on the Board of Directors of the Academy of Country Music. He is also a Member of NARAS, the CRS Agenda Committee, Leadership Music and Leadership Music Digital Summit.
CMT, a unit of Viacom’s MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA and VIA.B), is the leading television and digital authority on country music and Heartland entertainment, reaching more than 84 million homes in the U.S. CMT and its website, CMT.com, offer an unparalleled mix of music, news, live concerts and series and is the top resource for country music on demand. The network’s digital platforms include the 24-hour music channel, CMT Pure Country, CMT Mobile and CMT’s broadband channel, CMT Loaded.
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