David Massey Announces Leadership, Artists for Work of Art Publishing-Management Venture (EXCLUSIVE)

By Jem Aswad

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – David Massey today announced the leadership and initial artists for Work of Art, the music-publishing and artist-management companies under his new joint venture with Sony Music Entertainment .

Work of Art Music Publishing is based in New York and Los Angeles, and led by Clio Massey, who will serve as VP. In this role, she will oversee the development of a roster of artists and songwriters from multiple musical genres. Also joining the publishing team is Zach Felber, who is based in Los Angeles and will serve as Creative Manager, working with Clio. Sony/ATV will administer the publishing venture.

As announced earlier this month, Massey will also be the president and CEO of a relaunched Arista Records , which will become an “all-new frontline creative center” within Sony Music. News broke in April that Massey was stepping down as president/CEO of Island Records , a post he had held since 2014, for a new role at Sony, where he had worked for 16 years earlier in his career.

Work of Art Management is based in Los Angeles and helmed by Ryan Chisholm, who will serve as General Manager. He will oversee an active roster that includes Mike Posner, Wes Period, and Milck, in addition to expanding the management company’s client base. Also joining the artist management team is Robert Dugan, who will serve as a manager working with Chisholm.

Said , “We look forward to making the most of the many exciting opportunities in music publishing and artist management with the formation of both these new companies. We’re excited to build a new publishing house to be overseen by Clio, who joins the new company from Sony/ATV. In addition, it is a great time to build a new management company with Ryan Chisholm at the helm. He brings a wealth of management experience to the new company.”

Said Clio Massey, “The vision for Work of Art Music Publishing is to cultivate an environment and infrastructure for songwriters to grow and develop with focused A&R attention, and to be nurtured to reach their fullest potential. I believe it can be the best of both worlds for songwriters – a boutique environment with access to the many, wide-reaching resources of Sony – and I couldn’t be more excited to get going.”

Said Ryan Chisholm, “I am thrilled to be working with David and Clio and excited to be participating in the launch of this new artist management venture. I look forward to shaping Work of Art Management into an elite company that prides itself on personal attention, dedication, and truly getting into the trenches with our artists.”

Clio Massey started her career in music publishing at Liberal Arts, a joint venture between David Massey and Universal Music Publishing. Since 2014, she has worked in A&R for Sony/ATV Music Publishing, most recently serving as Senior Director, A&R. During her time with Sony/ATV, she signed songwriter Geoff Warburton (Shawn Mendes’ “There’s Nothing Holdin’ Me Back”, “In My Blood”), songwriter/producer 6ix (Logic “1-800-273-8255”) and singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers, among others. She also worked with numerous Sony/ATV writers and artists, including Posner, Camila Cabello, and Simon Wilcox. Chisholm started his career at Bill Silva Management where he co-managed singer Christina Perri (“Jar of Hearts”, “A Thousand Years,” “Human”) and more recently has worked with Posner and Milck.