Music Industry Moves: Sarah Mary Cunningham Joins Align PR

Veteran PR executive Sarah Mary Cunningham has joined the New York-based team of Align PR, the company announced on Tuesday. The firm, which has offices in Los Angeles, Miami and London, works with Matthew McConaughey, Madonna, Selena Gomez, Zayn Malik and others.

“The align PR team is excited to welcome Sarah Mary to the New York office where she will work alongside publicists in music, sports and entertainment,” says the company’s Nicole Perez-Kreuger. “Her reputation within the industry, as well as her nearly two decades of experience across so many aspects of the business is a pivotal factor for new business development and the continued growth of align PR’s staff, as well as our client roster. We are excited to have her join the team.”

More from Variety

Most recently, Cunningham was a VP of publicity at Columbia Records, a role she had held since 2014. There, she worked closely with such artists as Rosalia, Orville Peck, Leon Bridges, Miley Cyrus and Depeche Mode as well as Edgar Wright and Quentin Tarantino. Previously, she was with the Chamber Group where she worked with Drake, Solange, Lil Wayne and 2Chainz. She also held roles at Susan Blond Inc. and Rubenstein Associates.

Monday, Nov. 25

Warner Chappell Music has signed a global administration deal with K-pop superstar Rosé, also known as one-fourth of the girl group Blackpink.

Rosé’s recent collaboration with Bruno Mars (also signed to Warner Chappell Music), the single “APT.,” has spent four weeks at No. 1 on both the Billboard Global 200 and Global Excl. U.S. chart. It also debuted at No. 1 on both charts, making Rosé the first female K-pop solo artist to do so simultaneously. In addition, the single hit No. 8 on Billboard’s Hot 100 songs chart.

“I am beyond excited to join the team at Warner Chappell,” said Rosé in a statement. “There is so much more to come that I can’t wait to share — it’s going to be an amazing journey.” Rosé also recent;y released a new song, “Number One Girl,” her long-awaited solo debut album, “rosie,” is set to follow on Dec. 6.

Ryan Press, President, North America, WCM said: “Rosé has earned this moment, and it’s a huge honor to officially welcome her to our Warner Chappell family. As she breaks record after record, she’s singlehandedly redefining the K-pop genre while also paving the way for a new era of cross-cultural expression. We’ve already hit the ground running with our partners at Atlantic to support ROSÉ’s bold vision and explore new creative opportunities for her songs. Above all, we can’t wait to see where her music takes us next.”

+ Anthem Entertainment has tapped Scot Sherrod as their senior director of creative for the company’s music publishing division. Sherrod brings with him a breadth of experience, having spent the past few years consulting for Sony Music Publishing, Jonas Group Publishing, Barry Coburn’s Ten Ten and Banz Music, and Moraine Music Group.

Sherrod, with entrepreneur Suzane Strickland, helped launch boutique publishing company, RareSpark Media Group, where he spent eleven years signing and developing a wide array of talent including Walker Hayes. Sherrod was also had a hand in pitching the song “More Than A Memory” by Garth Brooks.

+ Splice has partnered with Alissia, a Grammy nominee in the best producer of the year (non-classical). The partnership will include a series of six curated sample collections presented as “Alissia Selects”, an exclusive contest for new creators on the Splice Discord, along with a demo of Splice in Studio One Pro 7.

In 2025, Alissia will also spearhead the curation of “Alissia and Friends,” yet-to-be-released collections from “women representing the future of modern music,” per an official announcement. “Splice has always been a great tool when I create,” added Alissia. “I’m very excited to have partnered with them and to share these collections of curated sounds, and I hope it will inspire others!”

“Alissia is a fantastic role model for our community, not just a great producer and instrumentalist but also someone who knows their way around Splice. We wish her all the best for the Grammys and we’re excited to see how Splice fans engage with this work,” said Kenny Ochoa, senior VP of content for Splice.

+ Hangout by Turntable Labs, Inc., a new virtual listening community connecting users through music discovery and curation, has launched on the web, iOS and Android.

Featuring songs from the world’s leading music companies, Hangout provides its community with access to over 100 million tracks, including licensed content from across the recorded music catalogs of Sony Music Entertainment (SONY), Universal Music Group (UMGNF), Warner Music Group (WMG), and Merlin, the digital music licensing partner for the world’s leading independent record labels, distributors and other music rights holders.

“With our broad global partnerships across the music companies in place, Hangout begins its journey to redefine the intersection of music and social media,” said Joseph Perla, Founder and CEO of Hangout. “Our vision has always been to create a platform that celebrates the joy of music but also helps support the music industry. Today marks a monumental step toward that goal.”

Best of Variety

Sign up for Variety's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.