SOCAN Confirms Jennifer Brown as CEO ; Names New CMO and VP of Member & Industry Relations
SOCAN has announced several leadership changes , including confirming Jennifer Brown as its permanent CEO and the hiring of Jean-Christian Céré as chief membership officer and Vanessa Thomas as VP of member and industry relations .
Brown had held an interim CEO role since April 2020 following the departure of Eric Baptiste , and she becomes the first
SOCAN CEO JENNIFER BROWN
woman to lead Canada ’ s largest music and visual arts rights organization , as well as the first to be appointed to the role from within the company . With more than two decades of strategic experience in rights management , licensing , advocacy , and support for music creators and publishers , Brown started her career with SOCAN in 1995 as a representative in the company ’ s Membership department . She has held progressive leadership positions , including VP of SOCAN ’ s Licensing department , before taking on the role of SVP of operations and reproduction rights in 2018 .
Céré expands upon the CMO role that was vacated last November by Mike Mc- Carty . Fluently bilingual , he will be based in the company ’ s Montréal office and oversee a department of more than 35 full-time staff . He is tasked with building a new strategy that will deliver more for SOCAN ’ s songwriters , composers , music publishers , and visual artists . With more than 15 years of executive experience , including GM of the Society of Authors and Composers of Quebec ( SPACQ ) from 2003-2012 , Céré collaborated with SOCAN and the SOCAN Foundation frequently .
Thomas moves into the new role of VP of member and industry relations after serving as executive director of the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame ( CSHF ), which is wholly owned by SOCAN and operated at arms ’ length . Before joining the CSHF , she spent 15 years in California working with major broadcasters both on and off air , and ran Gavin magazine , a well-known broadcast industry trade publication . Thomas returned to Canada as managing director of Nielsen Entertainment Canada and was promoted to SVP for North America at Nielsen Music , a position she held for 12 years . She then opened Songza Canada ’ s offices and later led business development for Rdio .
SOCAN also announced that COO Jeff King has left the company . Following a re-organization of much of SOCAN ’ s operations , it says the decision was made to remove the COO role . Geneviève Côté has also departed SOCAN and its Quebec affairs will be fulfilled in part by Céré .
For more information , contact SOCAN : 866-307-6226 , members @ socan . com , www . socan . ca .
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