Fast-growing publisher Downtown has expanded to Paris and Sydney with the opening of two offices and recruited a number of new hires on the ground.
The expansion brings its presence to eight cities around the world, with offices already established in New York, Amsterdam, London, Los Angeles, Nashville, and Tokyo.
The Paris and Sydney offices will be focused on investing in local songwriters and artists as well as marketing and promoting Downtown’s global catalog of song copyrights.
That catalogue includes music by the likes of John Lennon, Hans Zimmer, and One Direction.
In Paris, the company has recruited Laura Bedikian as A&R Manager, who joins from publisher Because Editions where she was International A&R Executive.
While there, Bedikain worked with acts including Ed Banger, Foals, Metronomy, and Freedo.
Charles Braud, who has 12 years’ experience in the French music industry, is Creative Licensing Director.
He was most recently Head of Sync and Publishing at Believe Digital and previously worked at Universal Music Group, Chrysalis Music France, Discograph, and Naive.
In addition, Armel Bernard has been hired as Copyright Coordinator.
In Sydney, Downtown has appointed 15-year industry veteran Rachel Kelly as Creative Director and Head of Sync, covering Australia and New Zealand.
Kelly previously served as Creative Director at BMG Australia, having joined the company as part of the acquisition of Alberts in 2016, where she worked for nearly a decade as Head of Licensing.
In her career, Kelly has represented the publishing interests of artists and writers including AC/DC, Harry Vanda & George Young, The Angels, The Beach Boys, and The Kinks.
She also fronted music-driven campaigns for Cadbury, Australian Football League, McDonalds, Samsung, Toyota, and Volkswagen, among others.
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