EMI Ups Sexton To EVP Worldwide Licensing

Cynthia Sexton has been promoted to EVP, Global Brand Partnership, Licensing and Synchronization for EMI Music.  In this expanded role, Sexton’s is responsible for worldwide licensing of all EMI assets for film, television and branded products and services.  She will also oversee new initiatives to develop relationships between EMI’s labels, artists and consumer brands. 

During her time at EMI Music North America, Ms. Sexton oversaw music licensing deals and strategic marketing initiatives which paired works from EMI Music artists with leading brands including Nissan, Apple, Diet Coke, L’Oreal, Target, Ford, Royal Caribbean, and Sauza Tequila among others. 

Sexton also led EMI Music efforts to place music in films and TV, leading to multiple EMI recordings being used in the “Sex and the City” film and related marketing initiatives, for theme songs to HBO’s “Entourage” and for the Fox series “House” and in TV shows including “Grey’s Anatomy,” “CSI,” “Big Love,” “Law and Order” and more.  She drove efforts to license music in games and their related marketing campaigns, including “Grand Theft Auto,” “Guitar Hero,” “Rock Band” and “Dance Dance Revolution.”

Prior to her EMI Music North America role, Sexton held a variety of senior roles at EMI’s Virgin Records, where she spearheaded some of the label’s earliest forays in strategic marketing and digital initiatives.  She joined Virgin Records/Virgin Publishing in 1988 and headed up the Los Angeles Business Affairs department.