Elias Arts Announces CEO Martin Pazzani to Step Down in May

Elias Arts Announces CEO Martin Pazzani to Step Down in May

Transformed Music Production House into Diversified Music Company

NEW YORK, April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Elias Arts, http://www.eliasarts.com/, the world's most awarded commercial music, sound, and audio identity firm today announced that CEO Martin Pazzani will be stepping down in May to focus on company developmental ventures.

According to Bill Luby, founding partner at Seaport Capital, the private equity firm that has an investment in Elias Arts, "Martin led Elias Arts through a period of great transition in the music and the advertising industries, which demanded new perspectives and new ideas. He delivered that, and now the company is well positioned to capitalize on the constantly changing market. We will continue to pursue those opportunities together going forward."

Pazzani comments, "When I arrived in 2005, Elias Arts had been best-in-class for a long time. What we did was add capabilities and services that built off that foundation and our staff's innate ability to bring brands to life through music. I was brought here to execute a three-year plan to set the stage for the future by bringing in new talent, new thinking, and new skills, and to move us into new channels, and we've accomplished that. I'm now looking forward to helping with this next phase of our plan."

During his tenure, Mr. Pazzani launched a number of new initiatives that have transformed the lauded music house into a more comprehensive and diversified music resource to service the new needs of its clients -- something akin to a music agency -- by:

   -- Expanding the Audio Identity Group, an innovative practice that melds      brand strategists and marketing pros with music producers and composers      to create 360-degree strategic audio identity programs for major      brands,   -- Pushing for a youth movement that brought major talents in to learn      from founder Jonathan Elias and team, resulting in Elias Arts composers      Nate Morgan and Kenny Segal winning the Boards Best New Composer Award      in 2006 and 2007 respectively.   -- Opening Avenida Acceso, a sister company that specializes in      urban/latino music and features famed composer/producer/performer      Andres Levin as Creative Director.   -- Initiating collaboration with The Sound Agency, a London-based audio      company that is an innovator in retail and environmental soundscapes.   -- Creating a New Channels Group to extend Elias Arts expertise and      presence into the music library, licensing, TV and film businesses.    

"It has been my great honor to work with Jonathan Elias and the incredible crews in Santa Monica and New York. Through all the change in the music business in the last three years, the one constant is that the creative work from this company has remained at an incredibly high level," added Pazzani.

Jonathan Elias, Founder and Chief Creative Officer adds, "Martin brought a marketing and business savvy to Elias Arts that we had not had before. We transformed and reenergized the company while keeping what was unique and special about us, and still managed to grow by 12% during 2007 in a down category. I'm looking forward to continued collaboration with him in the future on a number of projects."

Mr. Pazzani, a seasoned global executive expert in marketing, branding, and development, will keep an office at Elias Arts, consult on key client projects, oversee the company's Dubai and Cannes initiatives, and begin working with several firms exploring new developmental and investment projects with Elias Arts.

About Elias Arts:

For 27 years Elias Arts has used the emotional power of music and sound to launch, grow and reposition the most recognized brands and companies around the world. Elias has worked with well over 700 of the Fortune 1000 companies and helped to turn numerous startups into everyday brand names. With offices in Santa Monica and New York, and a renowned roster of gifted composers, producers, and marketers, they are the maestros of using music as a powerful integrated marketing tool and brand builder.

Elias Arts' mission is to apply the powers of music and sound in unique and creative ways to build economic value for their clients and has embarked on a plan to extend the powers of music and sound into new channels, new mediums, and new markets. They are the only music company to employ a staff of professional brand strategists and marketing gurus, who have devised a proprietary process that creates 360-degree Audio Identity systems -- a way of using music and sound across all consumer touch points to create brand harmony -- and make marketing dollars more effective.

With a music supervision department headed by KCRW's tastemaker-extraordinaire Nic Harcourt, a roster of Featured Artists that includes The Pixies' Joey Santiago, and the talented in-house composers assembled and mentored by famed composer Jonathan Elias, Elias Arts is in a class of its own.

For additional information on Elias Arts, please see http://www.eliasarts.com/site020/pages01/news/EliasArtsNews.html.

Contact for Elias Arts:

Vivian H. Brooks, #508-347-2368

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Elias Arts

CONTACT: Vivian H. Brooks of Elias Arts, +1-508-347-2368

Web site: http://www.eliasarts.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment