NEW YORK, October 7th - Gary Churgin, President and CEO of the Harry Fox Agency (HFA) announced today that Maurice A. Russell will serve as the agency's new Vice President of Label Relations, a position newly created to develop proactive, pre-release licensing relationships with the record labels. Russell will develop and oversee the Label Specialist Program within the HFA Licensing Department. The Label Specialist Program will strengthen relationships with key label personnel and other parties in order to identify recording project priorities and release schedules. As a result, HFA will accelerate and refine its licensing and collection processes for the benefit of music publishers and labels. He joins HFA today and will report directly to Michael Simon, HFA" Senior Vice President, Licensing & Chief Strategic Development and Marketing Officer.
Previously Russell was the founder and CEO of Machine Enterprises Inc., where he provided commercial artist management and business consulting services to creative enterprises in the media, entertainment and design fields. In this capacity, he also advised firms on structuring operations and new business development strategies.
Leveraging his broad-based entertainment industry and distribution experience, Russell oversaw the daily operations as Vice President and General Manager of Razorfish Studios, Inc., a 33-employee multi-media start-up. In this role, Russell implemented corporate operations, including finance and accounting, business affairs, human resources and facilities and integrated the acquisitions of three entertainment companies.
Prior to Razorfish Studios, Russell was the Senior Director, Business Development and Licensing at Red Ant Entertainment where he headed the special products and licensing department. His responsibilities included marketing recording artists and music to film and television productions, negotiating and drafting all recording agreements, and licensing music for online, film, television, compilation albums and all other secondary market exploitations.
A seasoned music industry professional, Russell spent several years handling Rights and Clearances and Licensing as a member of the Business Affairs Department of Polygram Records, Inc. As Senior Director, Contract Administration, Russell was responsible for supervising the administration of over 250 recording, license and video agreements, as well as tracking options, product delivery and financial obligations.
"The creation of the Vice President of Label Relations position is a vital component of HFA's strategy," stated Churgin. "Maurice's strengths in managing people, processes, and technology along with his expertise in the music and entertainment industry make him the perfect person for this position."
"Maurice's music and entertainment industry background, coupled with his industry contacts and licensing expertise add tremendous value to the Harry Fox team," noted Simon. "The creation of the Label Relations position is an integral part of our effort to improve upon our licensing practices by strengthening our relationships in the recording industry."
"I am honored to be joining the Harry Fox team in this exciting new role. The creation of the Label Specialists Program is yet another indication of Harry Fox's ongoing commitment to providing top level service to its clients and customers," stated Russell.
The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. provides an information source, clearing house and monitoring service for licensing musical copyrights, and acts as licensing agent for more than 27,000 music publisher principals, who in turn represent the interests of more than 160,000 songwriters. Besides the core business functions of licensing, collections, and distribution of royalties, HFA conducts periodic record company and other user royalty examinations on behalf of its principals. HFA is the licensing affiliate of the National Music Publishers' Association.
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