3 posts and columns on John Sykes

Project Playlist Picks Up Total Music Leftovers From Universal, but Hasn’t Settled Lawsuit

in Media on May 19, 2009 at 1:47 pm PT

The music industry’s online forays have always inspired head-scratching, but this one is odd even by those standards: Project Playlist, the online music service currently being sued by Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group, is bolstering its tech staff by buying the assets of… a music service owned by Universal Music Group. But the lawsuits have yet to be resolved. Confusing? Of course.

Project Playlist Names Former MTV Exec Sykes as CEO, Replacing Van Natta

in News on April 24, 2009 at 9:09 am PT

Legendary former MTV Networks exec and co-founder John Sykes will replace outgoing CEO Owen Van Natta as CEO of the controversial music-sharing site, Project Playlist. He is a high-profile choice to take over for Van Natta, who was officially named CEO of MySpace this morning by News Corp. Sykes is well regarded in the music industry, an important criterion since Playlist has been dealing with legal attacks from some music labels. Settling with them will be key to the start-up’s survival.
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Van Natta Confirmed as CEO of MySpace–The Full Press Release

in News on April 24, 2009 at 8:54 am PT

Former Facebook COO Owen Van Natta has finally been officially named as CEO of MySpace, as BoomTown reported yesterday and News Corp. announced this morning. He will replace CEO and co-founder Chris DeWolfe, who stepped down from the job earlier this week. DeWolfe will remain a strategic adviser at MySpace. Here’s the full press release.
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