On The Move: Samantha Juneman Joins Mattel as Head of Music, SM Entertainment and Tencent Music Launch Beijing Joint Venture

Plus Warner Music Eastern Europe names its first MD, Heidi O'Neill exits Spotify's board & more

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.

Samantha Juneman has been named Head of Music at Mattel, where she will lead the toy company's push to make music a more central part of its franchise and commercial strategy across content, products, marketing, and experiences. She arrives from Irving Azoff's Iconic Artists Group, where she served as SVP managing a roster that included Wu-Tang Clan, Cher, and The Beach Boys.

SM Entertainment and Tencent Music have launched STE, a Beijing-based joint venture focused on developing and managing artists for the Greater China market. Super Junior-M member Zhou Mi will serve as CEO of the new company, which will handle artist auditions, group development, and the China management of several SM artists including NCT DREAM's Renjun, WayV's Yangyang, and Xiaojun.

Warner Music Group has appointed Mateusz Smólka as Managing Director of Warner Music Eastern Europe, a newly created role based in Warsaw. He will oversee WMG's operations across Poland, the Czech Republic, South Eastern Europe, and Ukraine, reporting to Simon Robson, President, EMEA. Smólka spent eight years at Spotify leading its editorial and artist and label partnerships teams across ten Eastern European markets before moving to WMG.

Heidi O'Neill has resigned from Spotify's Board of Directors after nearly nine years. She joined the board in December 2017, months before Spotify went public. Her exit came days before she began as CEO of Lululemon. Spotify has not named a replacement, leaving the board with eleven directors.

Elsewhere in the industry…

AEG Presents has officially launched its German office in Berlin, with Sina Hall joining as Senior Promoter, reporting to Adam Wilkes, President and CEO of AEG Presents Europe and Asia-Pacific. Hall founded Sound of Nashville in 2018 and previously worked at Trinity Concerts, Dirk Becker Entertainment, and Semmel Concerts.
Legends Global has promoted Mark Jan Kar to SVP, MENA and APAC Strategic Projects, while Santiago Olea steps into the General Manager role at Dubai's Coca-Cola Arena. Jan Kar joined the arena in 2018 and has overseen more than 550 live events as GM. Olea transfers from the King Abdullah Financial District Conference Centre in Riyadh, where he has been GM since 2024.
K-LOVE has promoted Natalie Carlisle to Chief Revenue Officer, expanding her previous Chief Development Officer role to include oversight of national underwriting and corporate sponsorships, and Monica Guffey to VP of Development, where she will lead family partnerships and business underwriting strategy.

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