Matt Sawin promoted to SVP, Marketing & Commercial development at Caroline

Caroline, Universal‘s US-based label and artist services division, has promoted Matt Sawin to the position of SVP, Marketing & Commercial Development.

Caroline, which falls under Steve Barnett’s Capitol Music Group (CMG), is led by General Managers Piero Giramonti and Jacqueline Saturn, to whom Sawin reports.

(Caroline International, run out of the UK by Jim Chancellor and Michael Roe, is a sister company to CMG’s Caroline.)

In his new position, Sawin is charged with overseeing the division’s marketing and sales teams to create and execute long-term plans for music releases from its partner artists and labels.

He will continue to be based in Caroline’s headquarters within the Capitol Tower in Hollywood.

Sawin has been with Caroline since its inception as EMI’s Label Services division in 2008.

Since its reinvention as Caroline in 2012, Sawin played an integral role in numerous accomplishments, including Caroline’s first ever No.1 albums (All Time Low and Alabama Shakes) within three weeks of each other in 2015.

Additional wins under Sawin’s leadership have included Brandi Carlile achieving her highest chart position (#4), three consecutive gold records for Five Finger Death Punch (including a No.1 with their latest) and driving the commercial marketing plan for rising star Halsey.

According to Giramonti and Saturn, “Matt has been our go-to person in the Commercial area since the relaunch of Harvest, and he’s never failed to impress us with his business acumen and keen marketing sense.

“He is a passionate music fan, as well, which is vital to maintaining the long-term commitment needed for artists to achieve success in the independent arena.

“We’re thrilled to be promoting Matt and expanding his role at Caroline.”

Sawin said, “I’m honored to be at Caroline and playing an expanded role in building and propelling a division that allows us to partner with new, developing and established artists in presenting their music to the world, while enabling them to tap into our ever-growing set of services and resources.

“I couldn’t be more proud of how far we’ve come and tremendously excited about our future under Jacqueline’s and Piero’s leadership.”

Prior to joining Caroline, Sawin was Content Manager at Starbucks Entertainment in Los Angeles, where he was involved in the company’s A&R and editorial departments for the Hear Music label – a joint venture with Concord Music that included artists such as Paul McCartney and Sia.

He began his career in 1999 in Seattle at local record shops and a variety of internships before managing the buying and merchandising for the Hear Music Record store chain as it was being acquired by Starbucks in 2001.

He co-developed that company’s Apple/iTunes partnership for the “Pick Of The Week” and Album Card download initiatives across the entire Starbucks chain.Music Business Worldwide

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