Music Industry Moves: Suno Names Former Merlin CEO Jeremy Sirota Chief Commercial Officer

Suno, an artificial intelligence firm focused on creating music through algorithms, has appointed Jeremy Sirota as its Chief Commercial Officer. In this role, he will manage the company's business strategy, partnerships, and relationships within the music industry, answering directly to CEO Mikey Shulman. This key recruitment follows Suno's recent collaboration with Warner Music Group and signals its intent to establish a firm commercial footing in the competitive AI audio sector.

Sirota brings a formidable track record from his prior position as CEO of Merlin, a leading digital rights agency for independent labels. During his six-year tenure, he spearheaded a comprehensive technology upgrade and negotiated critical licensing deals with major streaming and social platforms, including Spotify, Apple, and Meta. These efforts helped Merlin's annual payments to members surge to $1.8 billion, doubling its revenue. His experience also includes overseeing Merlin's early forays into agreements with AI companies, a background that will be directly applicable at Suno. As one industry analyst noted, "Sirota's deep understanding of licensing complexities is a major asset. His hiring suggests Suno is proactively seeking to build legitimate, royalty-generating models from the outset, which could help mitigate the legal uncertainties that often plague AI-generated content."

Before leading Merlin, Sirota held executive positions at Meta and Warner Music Group, and started his career as a technology lawyer at the firm Morrison Foerster. Suno CEO Mikey Shulman highlighted this diverse experience, stating, "Jeremy has consistently championed all stakeholders in music—from artists to distributors. His expertise is in building new commercial structures where none existed, which is exactly the skill set required to responsibly shape the future of AI in our industry." This appointment is seen as a deliberate step to inject established industry credibility into Suno's operations, especially following the release of its Suno Studio platform, a tool it describes as the first professional-grade generative audio workstation.

In a separate executive move within the music business, Sony Music Publishing (SMP) has promoted Greg Prata to the role of Chief Financial Officer. Prata, a company veteran who joined Sony in 2012 and most recently served as Executive Vice President of Finance & Corporate Strategy, will now oversee all global financial activities for the world's largest music publisher. He succeeds Tom Kelly, who is departing after a 35-year career with the company. Prata will report directly to SMP Chairman and CEO Jon Platt.

Meanwhile, the boutique music production company Patron Saints of Music, best known for scoring Bravo's popular "Below Deck" franchise, has created a new leadership role. It has hired Allie Moskovits as its first Head of Sync & Business Development. Her mandate is to drive synchronization strategy, placing the company's music across television, film, advertising, and video games. A primary objective is to develop new talent and grow the company's music catalog, strategically expanding its reach beyond its core strength in reality TV into wider entertainment sectors. This shift mirrors a broader industry pattern where music houses are actively diversifying their creative portfolios and revenue sources to adapt to a rapidly changing media landscape.