David Dormon is back in the fold at Downtown Music Holdings, where he’s appointed general counsel.
Based in New York, Dormon returns to the music services provider following his departure last fall as vp, legal and business affairs, whereupon he joined international law firm Reed Smith LLP.
At Downtown, Dormon succeeds current general counsel Peter Rosenthal, who is exiting to “pursue another opportunity,” according to a statement issued Friday morning (Feb. 25).
“I know I speak for the entire company when I welcome David back into the Downtown family,” comments Andrew Bergman, CEO of Downtown Music Holdings. “David has a deep knowledge of all of our operations, keen negotiating skills, global M&A expertise and the respect of the entire industry. I am pleased to be able to offer him this very important role at Downtown. I would be remiss in not mentioning the impact Peter Rosenthal has had on Downtown and we all wish Peter the best of luck.”
Dormon joined Downtown Music Holdings in 2018 as legal counsel and director of acquisitions and, soon after, was appointed vp, legal and business affairs.
During his first stint with the company, Dormon played a key role in the game-changing sale of Downtown’s library of copyrights to Concord, its purchase of the catalog of the Belgium-based publisher Strictly Confidential in 2019, and its acquisition of FUGA the following year.
Prior to that, he served at the law firms of Vedder Price and Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP in Chicago.
“It’s an exciting new chapter for Downtown,” Dormon says in a statement, “and I’m excited to rejoin my colleagues and begin contributing to the continued success of the company.”
Dormon returns to a company that’s a year into a major reinvention.
In April 2021, Concord acquired Downtown Music’s 145,000-song publishing copyrights, trigging the business’ shift towards music services. As part of that new direction, the company switched focus to being a multi-faceted service organization for unsigned artists and songwriters, and, in phase one of its realignment, DashGo and Downtown Music Publishing were rebranded Downtown Music Services.
Downtown currently manages over 23 million music assets on behalf of over 1.7 million artists and enterprise clients representing 145 countries.