Shore Fire Promotes Jaclyn D. Childress to President

Shore Fire Media has promoted 13-year veteran Jaclyn D. Childress to president. The announcement positions Childress, a member of the firm's leadership team since 2019, as the continued head of its Nashville operation, reporting to recently appointed CEO Angela Barkan. Her portfolio spans sports, country music, reality TV and creators.

Childress joined Shore Fire in 2013 as a publicity coordinator. She rose through the publicist ranks to vice president in 2021 and to senior vice president three years later. Barkan credited her with two structural wins: signing the firm's first creator in 2019 and establishing its sports practice. "In our short time working together, Jaclyn's entrepreneurial nature has become very apparent," Barkan said. "I know she will continue to help build the business as an integral part of our executive leadership team." The promotion consolidates Nashville's outsize role in the firm's growth in one sentence.

Who was promoted at Epic Records?

Epic Records has promoted Ayanna Wilks to Senior Vice President, Head of Publicity, and Tina Ibañez to Senior Vice President, Creative & Content, effective immediately. Both report to Chairman and CEO Ezekiel Lewis.

Wilks will lead Epic's publicity department from Los Angeles. She joined the label in 2019 as Senior Director of Publicity and rose to Vice President. Her earlier roles include stints at Wilhelmina Models, Roc Nation and Diane von Furstenberg.

Ibañez will lead the creative department from New York, having joined Epic in 2021. She previously served as a Senior Art Director at Sony Music, where she earned a Grammy Award with fellow creative Brett Kilroe, and began her career at design studio Trooper.

"Great artists need partners who can tell their story and build their world. Ayanna and Tina do both at the highest level," Lewis said. "As we invest in the next generation of Epic talent, they're exactly the leaders I want building it with us."

When is the Ally Coalition Talent Show?

The Ally Coalition's 12th Annual Talent Show takes place Tuesday, December 15, at 7:30pm at the Jack H. Skirball Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. Pre-sale tickets open Wednesday, November 11; general sales begin Thursday, November 12, at 10am ET.

Created and curated by founder Jack Antonoff, the show has raised more than $2 million for unhoused LGBTQ+ youths across eleven editions. Past performers include Taylor Swift, Lana Del Rey, Sabrina Carpenter, Rachel Zegler, Phoebe Bridgers, Hayley Williams, Hasan Minhaj, Kasey Musgraves, Florence Welch, Jason Isbell, Clairo and St. Vincent.

"The Talent Show exists in its own special world that we have built over the last eleven years: bringing together my favorite artists to play a small room in New York for our people," Antonoff said.

What changed at the Recording Academy?

The Recording Academy promoted Joanna Chu to SVP of Awards after five years leading the department as VP through Grammy season. Susan Stewart becomes VP of the Songwriters & Composers Wing, which she helped establish in 2020 and has grown to represent nearly half of the Academy's voting membership. Michael Niepront joins as SVP of Global Partnerships & Business Development, bringing 17-plus years of partnership experience that includes the Academy of Country Music Awards, the American Music Awards and the Billboard Music Awards. (The source spells his surname Nieporent.) The trio signals institutional investment in both awards operations and commercial partnerships.

Which songwriters signed new publishing deals?

Sony Music Publishing U.K. has signed songwriter-artist Natalie Findlay, including all future works. Her recent credits include co-writes with Suki Waterhouse ("Good Looking") and Ashe ("Swan Lake"), joining a discography spanning Remy Bond, Blossoms and Declan McKenna. "I'm lucky to have a new team around me who understands that and shares my enthusiasm for what's ahead," Findlay said.

Prescription Songs has signed Los Angeles songwriter-producer Phil Leigh, whose credits include Le Sserafim's "Spaghetti," Twice's "Hi Hello," ANOTR's "Paradise" and Jason Derulo and Michael Bublé's "Spicy Margarita," plus collaborations with Beyoncé, David Guetta, the Chainsmokers and J Balvin. Forthcoming releases involve Marshmello, ANOTR and Purple Disco Machine. "They match my freak, and I'm so grateful that they are the people that I'm doing this with," Leigh said.

What do the executive hires at TuneCore and Vydia signal?

TuneCore has named Tash Shah Vice President, Global Marketing, reporting to Chief Business Officer Brian Miller. Shah joined TuneCore in 2023 as VP, International, managing teams across 17 countries with P&L responsibility per market. Before that she spent 12 years at Spotify, becoming its first Head of Marketing in the UK. "Tash has spent three years understanding what those artists need, and she has the vision to make TuneCore the platform they choose to build their careers on," Miller said.

Anuel AA collaborator La Greña has signed with Vydia in conjunction with ShowOff Gang Music ahead of his album "Diferente," due November 27, with first single "Todos Loco" arriving Friday. ShowOff Gang President Jason "JT" Thomas framed the deal expansively: "We're not just signing an artist; we're investing in the next major voice coming out of the Dominican Republic." Across labels, publishers and nonprofits, the week's moves reward executives and writers with proven track records.