Highly regarded music executive Cindy James has been appointed Head of Commercial Marketing for Caroline – the Independent Distribution and Services division of Capitol Music Group (CMG).
The news was announced today by Caroline’s Executive Vice President Matt Sawin, to whom James reports.
In this newly created position, James is charged with leading Caroline’s commercial, artist marketing and commercial operations teams.
She will work closely with Caroline’s artist and label partners and teams within Capitol Music Group to develop, navigate and execute strategic campaigns for their releases.
James is based in Caroline’s headquarters within the iconic Capitol Tower in Hollywood.
James was most recently Vice President of Streaming & Playlisting Strategy for Island Records in New York. In this role, she served as strategist for release planning and consumption opportunities for artists’ music across streaming platforms.
She played a key role in successful campaigns for artists, including Shawn Mendes, Demi Lovato and Dean Lewis.
“Caroline’s reputation precedes itself, and the team is one of the strongest in the industry. I’m looking forward to delivering great results with them for our artists and label partners.”
Cindy James
Before joining Island, James spent 10 years in senior positions with Sony Music Entertainment in New York, London and Sydney.
As Senior Director of Streaming, James focused on streaming consumer marketing, playlist behavior initiatives and advertising technology strategies, all while leading the Spotify account team and playlist service ‘Filtr’ for the US market.
In 2013, James was selected for a newly created position in London as Head of International Sales for Spotify and Amazon, overseeing all global release plans and account growth for two of Sony’s largest accounts.
There, she created and executed global campaigns for One Direction, Calvin Harris, and Kygo, among others.
Earlier, in Sydney, James led digital and brand development across the Asia Pacific region at a crucial time when new digital service deals and artist-led brand activations were two significant sources of revenue for this region’s music business.
She began her career as a promoter, artist and tour manager, freelance music journalist and CD store manager.
“Her level of marketplace expertise, gravitas in the industry, and team leadership will put the ever-growing Caroline commercial team, and all of our artist and label partners, in an even better position to win.”
Matt Sawin, Caroline
Matt Sawin said: “Having Cindy join the Caroline team is a game-changer! Her level of marketplace expertise, gravitas in the industry, and team leadership will put the ever-growing Caroline commercial team, and all of our artist and label partners, in an even better position to win.”
James added: “I am incredibly excited to be joining Capitol Music Group and the Caroline family working under the leadership of Steve Barnett, Jacqueline Saturn and Matt Sawin, executive leaders whom I’ve admired for a long time.
“Caroline’s reputation precedes itself, and the team is one of the strongest in the industry. I’m looking forward to delivering great results with them for our artists and label partners.”Music Business Worldwide
