Sony Music UK hires Jack Fryer from Universal for new catalogue and sync role

Sony Music UK has hired Jack Fryer from Universal Music as President of Catalogue, Digital Media and Sync. The company announced the appointment on Monday, October 5, and said Fryer joins with immediate effect, Sony Music UK confirmed.

He starts now. The role is newly created and Fryer will report to Azi Eftekhari, chief operating officer of Sony Music UK.

He will lead three teams together: catalogue, the older releases that continue to stream and sell long after first release; the digital media agency, the in-house specialists who make content and run audience campaigns; and sync, the licensing of recordings for film, television, adverts and games. Sony Music UK described the structure as a unified offer across those three areas.

Fryer spent more than a decade at Universal Music in senior strategy roles, Music Business Worldwide reported. His most recent remit there covered creative, strategy and data across labels.

That work included running The Square, Universal Music UK’s in-house agency. Fryer was named managing director when The Square launched in January 2020.

He had risen through Universal’s research side before that. Fryer joined Universal Music UK in October 2013 as head of insight. He was promoted to director of audience research and planning in October 2015.

Before Universal, he spent two years in the same insight role at EMI Records. During that period he worked on campaigns for Emeli Sandé, Swedish House Mafia and Bastille.

Earlier still, he worked as a strategist at marketing agency FRUKT.

What makes this stand out is the shape of the job. Catalogue, digital and sync often decide whether an older song finds a second audience. One team looks after the recordings, another places them in shows and ads, and a third pushes them through social video and streaming playlists.

The appointment was also reported by Music Week on October 5. Sony Music UK lists the announcement among its recent October news for artists.