TikTok global head of music operations Paul Hourican is reportedly leaving the company.

Hourican announced his departure in an email to staff and partners, obtained by Music Business Worldwide.

The London-based executive joined the ByteDance-owned business in November 2019 as head of music operations for the UK and Europe.

“After four and a half amazing years and with a lifetime’s worth of memories and achievements in the bag, I have made the decision to move on from TikTok and I’m excited about what the future holds,” said Hourican in the email.

During his time with the video hosting platform, Hourican initially focused on the major music markets across Europe, taking responsibility for music strategy and its execution in the region. He went on to lead a team to coordinate the company’s music campaigns globally, including its work with artists and labels.

“I’ve learned so much and got to work with such amazing people at one of the most innovative and exciting platforms the music business has ever seen”

“I started back in 2019 when the rocket ship they call TikTok was truly beginning to take off and it’s basically been a runaway train since then,” added Hourican.

“I’ve learned so much and got to work with such amazing people at one of the most innovative and exciting platforms the music business has ever seen.”

Prior to joining TikTok, Hourican worked as the head of international artist marketing at YouTube, in New York, between 2017 and 2019. Previously, he was a music curation lead at the platform between 2015 and 2017.

Before he worked at YouTube, Hourican was the head of talent and music at MTV UK in London.

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TikTok has revealed its “first-of-its-kind” live global experience In The Mix was the biggest ever live event ever to take place on the platform.

Held in front of a sold-out 17,000 crowd at Sloan Park in Mesa, AZ on Sunday 10 December, In The Mix starred headliners Cardi B, Niall Horan, Anitta, Charlie Puth, Offset and Peso Pluma.

The five-hour music event pulled in more than 33.5 million unique viewers for the original broadcast and subsequent rebroadcasts of the show, with 9.6m tuning in to watch the show live.

The experience was streamed globally via TikTok LIVE, with video and event production designed specifically for its unique vertical format by award-winning director Hamish Hamilton and Done+Dusted.

“In The Mix was an awe-inspiring event where fans and artists came together to celebrate what we love about TikTok”

“In The Mix was an awe-inspiring event where fans and artists came together to celebrate what we love about TikTok, where the power of the platform’s music discovery played out on stage,” says TikTok’s global head of music partnerships & programming Paul Hourican. “An event of this magnitude truly takes a village, thank you to the amazing line-up of incredible artists, our partners, the sold out crowd in Arizona, and the record breaking audience who watched around the world in their millions on TikTok.”

In The Mix, which was co-produced by TikTok and GroupM Motion Entertainment, and sponsored by Paramount and Coca Cola, also showcased special performances by Reneé Rapp, as well as emerging artists from TikTok’s Elevate programme, Isabel LaRosa, Kaliii, LU KALA, and Sam Barber.

A one-hour special featuring highlights from the event is available to watch now on Disney+ and Hulu.

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TikTok has promoted Paul Hourican to global head of music operations.

The London-based executive joined the business in November 2019 as head of music operations for the UK and Europe.

During his time at the ByteDance-owned platform, Hourican has focused on the major music markets across Europe and has taken responsibility for music strategy and its execution in the region.

Hourican will now lead a team to coordinate the company’s music campaigns globally, including its work with artists and labels.

Prior to joining TikTok, Hourican worked as the head of international artist marketing at YouTube, in New York, between 2017 and 2019.

He was a music curation lead at the platform prior to that, between 2015 and 2017.

Hourican will now lead a team to coordinate the company’s music campaigns globally

Before he worked at YouTube, Hourican was the head of talent and music at MTV UK in London.

Announcing his new role in a LinkedIn post on Thursday (29 September), Hourican said: “More to follow, but very excited and grateful to be taking on a new gig at TikTok as global head of music operations.

“It’s truly a privilege to come to work every day with such an incredibly talented and passionate group of teammates, so I’m beyond excited for the journey ahead, to continue supporting our incredible partners and our artist community and to make some new friends along the way.”

Meanwhile, Isabel Quinteros Annous has been upped to global lead of music partnerships at TikTok.

Quinteros Annous’ staff will collaborate with regional music teams across all territories to amplify key campaigns and tentpole events, as well as maximise artist opportunities across all of parent company Bytedance products.

Quinteros Annous, based in Los Angeles, previously held roles at the Chamber Group, PMK-BNC, Rubenstein and 5W.

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Billie Eilish will perform the official theme song to the new James Bond film live for the first time at the Brit Awards 2020 on Tuesday 18 February.

The Paradigm-repped artist, who recently became the second artist ever to take home all four top awards at the Grammys, is debuting ‘No Time to Die’ with her brother and producer Finneas, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr and an orchestral arrangement by Hans Zimmer and Matt Dunkley.

Eilish is nominated for the international female solo artist award at the Brits, along with Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey, Lizzo and Camila Cabello.

Taking place at London’s 20,000-capacity O2 Arena, other performances at the live-focused event will come from Brits rising star winner Celeste, Dave, Harry Styles, Lewis Capaldi, Lizzo, Mabel and Stormzy and will be hosted by comedian Jack Whitehall.

London rapper Dave and scottish singer Lewis Capaldi lead the way with Brit nominations this year, with four apiece for male solo artist, song of the year, album of the year and best new artist.

Billie Eilish will perform the official theme song to the new James Bond film live for the first time at the Brit Awards 2020

Mabel is also nominated for multiple awards, appearing in the female solo artist, song of the year and best new artist nominees. Across the eight categories awarded on the night, the singer is the only woman to receive a nomination outside of the female-only awards, asides from Miley Cyrus’ feature on Mark Ronson’s ‘Nothing Breaks Like a Heart’ in the song of the year category.

Stormzy – who is this year headlining Reading and Leeds, Pohoda and Sziget – is up for male solo artist, song of the year and album of the year.

The Brits is this year partnering with short-form mobile video platform TikTok, which will livestream the arrival of nominees and others on the Brits red carpet, including an exclusive live performance from Lewis Capaldi.

“Our BRITs 2020 partnership is part of a wider UK programme that aims at collaborating with and educating labels, managers and artists to make the most out of the platform, taking advantage of TikTok’s unique creativity to engage with their fans and connect with a new global audience,” comments Paul Hourican, TikTok’s head of music operations, UK.

Hourican will be delivering a workshop on how music industry professionals can make the most of TikTok at the International Live Music Conference (ILMC) on 4 March.

The Brit Awards 2020 is taking place on Tuesday 18 February at the O2, broadcast live on ITV from 7.30 p.m.

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