Val Pensa Leaves RCA Records to Launch Management and Marketing Firm Moonstruck
Val Pensa, who spent 15 years at RCA Records and rose to senior vice president and head of marketing, announced on August 13 that she is launching her own management and marketing firm, Moonstruck. The new company will be based in Los Angeles. Billboard
Pensa had already signalled the move the day before, posting on Instagram on August 12 about the venture, which she formally registered as Moonstruck Management & Marketing Inc. She wrote that she had always felt a calling to start her own company and that the timing was right. In announcing the name, she explained that "moonstruck" means "dreamily entranced — devoted to something you believe in," adding that it reflects how she works with artists who have real vision. Billboard
At RCA, one of the three major-label groups operating under Sony Music, Pensa oversaw the label's entire marketing department — the team responsible for campaigns that put albums and singles in front of listeners across streaming platforms, radio and retail. She was named senior VP and head of marketing in 2021, having previously been promoted in 2018 to senior vice president of pop/rock marketing from her role as vice president, marketing. Variety
Her campaigns at RCA covered artists including Doja Cat, P!nk, Becky G, Pentatonix, Kygo and Tate McRae. In 2023, Billboard named Pensa its Executive of the Week for her work on P!nk's tenth studio album, Trustfall, which debuted at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 — the chart that ranks the most-consumed albums in the US each week, combining physical sales, digital downloads and streaming equivalent album units (the measure that converts plays into album sales). Billboard
Pensa's work has also been recognised by the Clio Awards, the programme that honours excellence in advertising and marketing across the music industry. She won three Clio Awards for her work on the marketing campaign for Sia's 2014 single "Chandelier" and has won 10 Clio Awards overall. She most recently served as a member of the Clio Music 2026 jury. Billboard
Pensa describes herself on her LinkedIn profile as a music marketing executive with over 20 years of experience, a tenure that predates her 15-year run at RCA.
For artists, the shift from a label-side marketing chief to an independent firm changes who is in the room when campaigns are planned. At RCA, Pensa sat inside a major label with its distribution machinery and roster priorities; at Moonstruck, she will be working for her own clients on her own terms — choosing which projects to take on and how to build them.
Moonstruck's client roster has not yet been announced.
