LONDON (CelebrityAccess) — PRS for Music announced a trio of new senior staff hires, as well as an internal promotion at the collection society.
Claire Jarvis joins PRS from Sky, taking up the position of Director of Membership and Sami Valkonen will serve as PRS’s new Director of International, joining the organization from Google.
As well, AEG veteran Barney Hooper has signed on for the brand new position of Director of Communications and Marketing.
Jarvis most recently served as Director of Music at Sky. Before joining the media and telecoms company, Jarvis spent 20 years with the BBC, holding various senior roles within music rights. In total, she has more than 30 years’ experience within the music industry, across licensing, rights, and composer and publisher relations.
Sami Valkonen comes to PRS after a tenure at Google, where served as the Director of International Music Publishing for YouTube and Google Play. However, he started his career in the industry as a singer-songwriter and held various positions within BMG throughout the 1990s in Los Angeles, Lisbon, and New York. Then, following a stint as a copyright lawyer, he then joined Nokia in 2008, where he played an instrumental role in reforming digital music licensing.
Barney Hooper was previously Director of Communications with AEG, based at The O2, where he ran corporate and crisis communications. His previous experience includes communication roles in the television industry, including at CNN.
PRS for Music also announced the promotion of Rachael Naylor to the new role of Director of Operations and Distribution. Prior to joining PRS for Music in 2009, Naylor worked in the consumer goods sector in a variety of management roles.
