Hipgnosis Song Management (HSM) has promoted Sara Lord to Chief Creative Officer.
Lord joined the company as Executive Vice President Content Creation in early 2023. She will now lead the company’s creative engagement with its portfolio of over 40,000 songs from more than 150 catalogs.
Additionally, she will oversee Synch and Audience Development and work closely with songwriters and artists alongside CEO Ben Katovsky.
Lord and Katovsky are part of the experienced leadership team at Hipgnosis Song Management left behind by founder Merck Mercuriadis, who exited the company following the $1.58 billion acquisition of Hipgnosis Songs Fund by Blackstone in July.
HSM says it manages “over $3 billion worth of the most successful and culturally important songs of all time.” The company is the investment advisor to both Hipgnosis’ private fund and the (previously) public entity of Hipgnosis Songs Fund.
With over 25 years of experience in the music industry, Lord has held various leadership roles, including at Concord Music, where she launched the Concord Art Prize.
She also managed multiple artists through her company, Lord Music Management.
“Sara has an outstanding track record and incredible knowledge of the creative industries.”
Ben Katovsky, Hipgnosis
“Sara has an outstanding track record and incredible knowledge of the creative industries. Hipgnosis owns many of the world’s most iconic songs and, as we seek to bring them to even wider audiences, building partnerships across these creative industries is a key part of our strategy,” said Ben Katovsky, CEO, Hipgnosis.
“Sara is uniquely qualified to build these partnerships, while working closely with our songwriters and artists.”
Lord also commented on her promotion, saying, “Starting each working day knowing that it is going to be soundtracked by some of my all-time favorite songs is truly a joy, to then be able to contribute to the legacy of those songs is a huge privilege.”
“I am very excited to be collaborating with our songwriters, forging partnerships across the creative industries and digging into all the ways we can ensure that we keep the magic alive.”
Sara Lord
Added Lord: “I am very excited to be collaborating with our songwriters, forging partnerships across the creative industries and digging into all the ways we can ensure that we keep the magic alive.”
Lord’s promotion comes as HSM embarks on a hiring spree after Blackstone’s deal with HSF.
HSM recently put up job postings for a number of London-based roles including Product Manager of Creative/Audience Development, plus VP of Licensing Management, a Junior Data Engineer, and a Team Coordinator.
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