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FAC boss to depart to head up Association Of Independent Music

By | Published on Monday 5 September 2016

AIM

The boss of the Featured Artists Coalition, Paul Pacifico, will jump ship to lead a different trade body later this year, becoming the second CEO of the Association Of Independent Music.

Pacifico became the first full time CEO of the FAC at the start of last year, subsequently also taking on the post of President of the International Artist Organisation. The two roles have seen Pacifico play an increasingly prolific lobbying role, campaigning on various artist rights issues in the UK and Europe.

At the indie label repping AIM, he will take over from Alison Wenham, who has led the organisation since its creation in 1999. She announced back in May that she intended to leave the association to become the first full-time CEO of the Worldwide Independent Network, which brings together independent record company trade groups around the globe.

Pacifico spent ten years working in the City before deciding to focus on his music consultancy Specific Music in 2005. He also performs with his band Pacifico Blues and The AllStars Collective of sessions musicians, which he set up. It was through those music projects that he became involved in the FAC, subsequently taking on the full-time executive role at that organisation.

His appointment to the top job at AIM is in part an acknowledgement that, while its core membership remains indie labels, the independent music community now includes ever more self-releasing artists and companies who provide services to such acts. Noting this, AIM said, while confirming Pacifico’s appointment, that: “[We have] become increasingly aligned with the artist community and have always championed fairness and transparency with artist’s interests at the heart of our ethos. [We are] hopeful of further collaboration between independent music companies and artists moving forward”.

Confirming his new gig, which will begin on 1 Nov, Pacifico told reporters: “I am incredibly excited by this new challenge and am looking forward to building on the incredible work that AIM has done on behalf of the independent music community over the last seventeen years. The increasingly important role of independent music both culturally and commercially across the world means that, more than ever, AIM has a key role to play ensuring that our members voices are heard and that they continue to have real say in the future of our industry”.

On his predecessor, he continued: “I would also like, of course, to pay tribute to the amazing legacy left to me by Alison Wenham. Under her stewardship AIM has become a hugely important organisation that has given the independent music community real unity and strength. We will remain close colleagues and I am looking forward to working with her in her new role at WIN”.

Wenham herself added: “I am leaving AIM with the secure knowledge that in Paul we have someone who has the passion, energy and vision to take the organisation forward. His impressive track record at The FAC, where he campaigned and lobbied tirelessly for artists’ rights demonstrates someone who has real conviction and integrity. AIM is in very safe hands under Paul and we will continue to work together to ensure that the independent music community continues to have real influence on the global stage”.

And finally, giving FAC’s blessing to Pacifico’s new job, the group’s co-Chair Sandie Shaw said: “We are delighted by Paul’s appointment to replace Alison Wenham at AIM, an organisation with whom we share many goals. Over the past eighteen months having Paul – our first employed CEO – as part of the FAC team, we have together built on the heavy groundwork and hard slog of the 5000 FAC members to establish FAC as the artist’s voice. His appointment with AIM has coincided harmoniously with the next phase of global growth for the FAC movement. We wish him well and know that he will continue to promote the central role of the artist creator within the music industry ecosystem”.



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