BMI has promoted 4 executives throughout its Artistic and Company Communications groups.
The promotions, introduced on Wednesday (June 3), are primarily based on the performing rights group’s New York headquarters.
On the Artistic aspect, John Ellwood has been promoted to Vice President, Artistic, whereas Deirdre Chadwick has been upped to Assistant Vice President, Artistic, Classical & Jazz.
In Company Communications, Jeff Gilligan has been elevated to Assistant Vice President, Artistic Director, and Jodie Thomas has been promoted to Assistant Vice President, Company & Media Relations.
As VP, Artistic, Ellwood works with BMI‘s senior management to assist form the corporate’s strategic imaginative and prescient, specializing in its market share throughout genres and platforms.
He brings almost 20 years of expertise to a task that BMI says bridges music, regulation and expertise.
Ellwood will proceed to supply enterprise and authorized assist throughout contract and enterprise negotiations and catalog gross sales.
He joined BMI in 2007 and held numerous roles within the firm’s authorized division, together with AVP, Authorized.
Ellwood moved to the Artistic workforce in 2022 as AVP, Technique & Enterprise Affairs, and can proceed to report back to VP, Technique & Enterprise Affairs, Artistic Rafael Martinez.
As AVP, Artistic, Classical & Jazz, Chadwick continues to supervise BMI’s Classical division and now leads all of its Jazz initiatives.
She manages royalty distributions for orchestral and large-ensemble classical concert events, and advises BMI‘s jazz and classical composers and publishers on fee eligibility, work registrations, licensing and copyright.
Chadwick additionally directs the BMI Composer Awards, an annual competitors for younger classical composers that distributes prizes totaling $30,000.
She oversees the BMI Jazz Composers Workshop, a New York-based program for rising composers centered on huge band and jazz orchestra composition.
Chadwick has served as President of the BMI Basis since 2014, and can proceed to report back to VP, Worldwide Artistic Barbara Cane.
As AVP, Artistic Director, Gilligan leads design and promoting company-wide throughout social media, digital platforms, BMI.com and bodily branded supplies.
His workforce’s work spans BMI award reveals, the corporate’s “Your Music Strikes Our World” advert marketing campaign and its competition levels at Lollapalooza, Austin Metropolis Limits and SXSW.
It additionally covers BMI signature occasions together with Rooftop on the Row, the Ryman/BMI Block Get together and the BMI Acoustic Lounge sequence.
Gilligan joined BMI in 2019 and can proceed to report back to SVP, Chief Communications & Advertising Officer Liz Fischer.
Thomas was promoted to AVP, Company and Media Relations, after serving as Government Director, Company Communications and Media Relations since becoming a member of BMI in 2015.
She leads media relations groups in Los Angeles and New York, directing PR throughout genres together with Pop/Indie, Hip-Hop and R&B, Broadway, Jazz, Latin, and Movie, TV & Visible Media.
Thomas additionally works on communications and PR technique for BMI‘s Licensing division and spearheads the corporate’s Audio system Bureau, which connects executives with talking alternatives at business occasions.
Like Gilligan, she reviews to Liz Fischer.
The promotions comply with a interval of management enlargement at BMI.
In June 2025, the corporate prolonged the contract of President & CEO Mike O’Neill by way of December 31, 2029. On the similar time, BMI stated it had employed three “seasoned executives” for the roles of Chief Monetary Officer, Chief Expertise Officer and Chief Transformation Officer.
BMI continued to strengthen its management ranks with a number of Artistic workforce promotions in November 2025.
Earlier this 12 months, in January 2026, it named Todd Horvath as President and Chief Working Officer, reporting to CEO Mike O’Neill.
Days later, BMI appointed Pam Schoenfeld as SVP, Chief Authorized Officer.
In Could 2026, the PRO agreed to accumulate the cue-sheet administration platform Soundmouse from music-tech firm Orfium.
BMI, which says it “represents the general public efficiency rights in over 25 million musical works created and owned by greater than 1.4 million songwriters, composers and music publishers”, was acquired by a shareholder group led by personal fairness agency New Mountain Capital in early 2024.
The corporate switched from a not-for-profit to a for-profit enterprise mannequin in 2022.Music Enterprise Worldwide
