On The Move: George Briner Retires After 18 Years at Valory Music Co., RCA Revives Jive Records

Each week, NIF & ROSTR tracks all the industry moves you need to know about. Promotions, hirings, farewells - have one you want to share? Click here.

RCA has relaunched Jive Records as a standalone label 15 years after folding it into RCA, tapping former UnitedMasters executives Mike Weiss and David Melhado as co-presidents to lead the iconic hip-hop and pop imprint's revival.

Big Machine Label Group veteran George Briner retired as President of The Valory Music Co. this week after 18 years with the label, stepping away from a role where he helped propel 46 singles to No. 1 and oversaw campaigns for Thomas Rhett, Justin Moore, and Sheryl Crow. Briner's career in country music spans over 40 years.

UMG promoted Francisca Goncalves to SVP, Global Head of Sync, Classic, Jazz & Screen, where she'll lead sync strategy across film, TV, advertising, and gaming for labels including Decca, Blue Note, Verve, and Deutsche Grammophon. Goncalves joined UMG UK in 2015 and relocated to LA as VP of Sync in 2019.

Warner Chappell appointed Wan Yin Koh as VP of Business Development, Digital for Asia Pacific, while Music Health Alliance brought on Lindsay Hayes as VP of Development and promoted six advocacy team members.

ONErpm added Mike Easterlin as Managing Director of its Nashville division, where he'll oversee A&R, roster development and ops. Easterlin previously served as co-president of Elektra Records and held A&R roles at Virgin, Def Jam and Atlantic. The company also brought on Josh Tomlinson as Dir. of A&R, Lindsey Terry as Country Marketing Dir., and Chad Neville as Project Manager.

ERN's Cadillac Music expanded with three new hires: Dane Schmidt as Senior Director of A&R, plus Jordan Marcus and Jude Warren in creative coordinator roles.

Also on the move…

• NIVA California named Joe Rinaldi as President, succeeding former co-presidents Gabe Docto, Jim Cornett, and Josh Lieberman

• Nordoff And Robbins tapped Dr Maria Neophytou as CEO starting in March

• Legends Global has appointed Josh Kritzler President, NA Venues & Content.

• Rolling Stone added Amanda Steinfeld Schaer as VP of Revenue Strategy & Ops

• Peermusic promoted Jody Farber to CFO, succeeding Bill Gorjance after his 20-year tenure

• Stem Distribution appointed Steff Hughes as Head of International after six years at AWAL

• Clayton Toney joined Neon Coast as Artist Manager alongside his artist Randall King

• TouchTunes named Angela Abbott VP of Music Licensing & Strategy

• Various Artists Management appointed Alice Vaughan as A&R Director while promoting Carimei Smith to Sr. Day-to-Day Manager/GM, North America

• Loew's Jersey Theatre tapped Bruce Wheeler as GM ahead of the historic Jersey City venue's Fall 2026 reopening

• PERK PR & Creative Agency added Natalie Blakley as publicist

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