Mass Appeal has announced two key executive hires.
Jessica Rivera will serve as the General Manager, Music, while Jenya Meggs will serve as the Senior Vice President of Content.
Both Rivera and Meggs will work closely with the company’s CEO Peter Bittenbender and co-founder, Hip Hop legend Nas.
In this role, Rivera will oversee creative and day-to-day operations of Mass Appeal’s music division; label, publishing and contributing across Mass Appeal’s other two divisions in content and creative services.
Serving alongside Mass Appeal’s Chief Creative Officer Sacha Jenkins, Meggs will spearhead programming strategies and partnerships for Mass Appeal.
In her former role as Head of Artist Relations for YouTube’s West Coast territory, Rivera’s achievements included heading up a livestream-based marketing campaign that resulted in Mariah Carey’s All I Want for Christmas Is You hitting No.1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for the first time ever.
Rivera spent 11 years at Universal Music Publishing Group (UMPG), where she held the position of Executive Vice President/Head of East Coast Operations and Creative.
She also worked with songwriters/producers behind more than 25 chart-topping singles, including the 12-times-platinum Love The Way You Lie by Eminem ft Rihanna, the 11-times-platinum Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars; and the certified-diamond Radioactive by Imagine Dragons (one of the best-selling songs in music history).
Before joining Universal, Rivera signed Rihanna at 16-years-old to her first publishing deal EMI.
Before joining the Mass Appeal team, Meggs served as the Original Content Producer for Apple Music, where she developed the streaming platform’s Up Next New Artist Program.
Additionally, Meggs sold and produced the BET Web Series Brooklyn Blue Sky (2017), as well as executive produced the BET George Floyd Special (2020).
Prior to working in production and development, Meggs began her career working in the video marketing department at Universal Music Group and later Warner Music Group.
She’s led the video marketing campaigns for GRAMMY Award-winning and multi-platinum selling artists, such as JAY-Z, Mariah Carey, Janet Jackson, Rihanna, Kanye West, Common and Jill Scott.
Over the past year, Mass Appeal has been working to develop the platform, #HipHop50, aimed at celebrating Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary.
Both Rivera and Meggs will help lead the charge for Mass Appeal’s #HipHop50 program. Rivera will work with Nas to oversee multiple original music projects aimed at celebrating Hip Hop’s incredible history.
Meanwhile, Meggs will spearhead the content partnership with Showtime/ViacomCBS, which will encompass unscripted series and features, podcasts and digital shorts.
Over the next six months, Mass Appeal will be announcing various partnerships for their #HipHop50 platform with companies in verticals ranging from original music, content, podcasts, live experiential, products, education, publishing and more – along with a charitable component attached to everything.
“Great moment as the team expands with the hiring of Jessica and Jenya, both of whom I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with for years.”
Nas
Nasir “Nas” Jones said: “Great moment as the team expands with the hiring of Jessica and Jenya, both of whom I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with for years.
“I look forward to working with Jessica as the GM of the label, Jenya as the SVP of content and together as a team as we scale our #HipHop50 program and Mass Appeal’s overall business.”
“It’s an inspiring time to join Mass Appeal and continue to build the music division and elevate the artist’s narrative through the synergy of Music and media.”
Jessica Rivera
Rivera said: “It’s an inspiring time to join Mass Appeal and continue to build the music division and elevate the artist’s narrative through the synergy of Music and media.
“Hip Hop 50 will uniquely bring together these worlds of creativity, all to celebrate Hip Hop’s 50th anniversary!”
“I’m excited to use my talents and join Mass Appeal on this journey, to expand the narrative of film and TV, while creating exceptional content.”
Jenya Meggs
Meggs added: “I’m excited to use my talents and join Mass Appeal on this journey, to expand the narrative of film and TV, while creating exceptional content.
“Mass Appeal has brilliantly created a path for authentic storytelling journeys. Hip-Hop 50 will bring together the best we have to offer to serve the culture the most defining celebration it deserves.”
“Both Jessica and Jenya bring a tremendous amount of experience, passion and relationships to the company at a time that could not be more exciting.”
Peter Bittenbender
Peter Bittenbender said: “Both Jessica and Jenya bring a tremendous amount of experience, passion and relationships to the company at a time that could not be more exciting.
“Having leadership of their level around #HipHop50 is a dream come true and I’m looking forward to what’s to come.”
