BMG has created the BMG Strategic Marketing Group, a new fully integrated organization for the U.S. that brings together BMG Special Products, BMG Heritage, Strategic Marketing and Direct Response TV as well as key support services including Business Affairs, Finance and Music Licensing.

Joe DiMuro has been named to the newly created position of Executive VP, BMG Strategic Marketing Group. The Group will be based at BMG's worldwide headquarters in New York with the new reporting structure effective immediately. The new division reports directly to company COO Michael Smellie, who made the announcement.

"This synergistic approach will help expand the 'lifecycle' and reach of a whole range of BMG product through every exploitation channel while creating new efficiencies," said Smellie. "Joe's keen understanding of the market place together with his tremendous skills as a team builder give me great confidence in the future success of this new organization."

Under DiMuro's leadership, the combined organization will increase coordination amongst various teams and business units responsible for all levels of exploitation, across product lines and across labels.

The new reporting structure will have each of the respective business heads within the Group reporting directly to DiMuro including:

BMG Special Products/BMG Heritage: BMG's catalog exploitation and secondary market activities will be centralized under the leadership of Gary Newman, Executive VP, BMG Special Products/BMG Heritage. Alex Miller has been named to the position of Senior VP, Marketing/Creative, in which he will oversee all marketing, creative and media activities and report to Newman.

Music Licensing: The group responsible for placing and licensing BMG's music for media including films, TV and advertising will continue to be overseen by Marty Olinick, Senior VP, Music Licensing.

Strategic Marketing: The team responsible for creating and implementing corporate marketing opportunities and strategic alliances, will continue to be overseen by Kenetta Bailey in her expanded role as VP, Strategic Marketing. Kieve Huffman, Senior Director, Online Strategic Marketing, will now report to Kenetta and add to his responsibilities the management and execution of BMG's digital licenses including to subscription services.

Direct Response TV: A new team will be named shortly with a view toward centralizing and ramping up BMG's direct TV campaigns for a broad range of product

Finance and Administration: Responsible for the Group's financial oversight, sales analysis and planning, Larry Parra will continue in an expanded role as VP, Finance & Administration. He previously held the same position for BMG Special Products. Parra will also handle the administration, operational and system requirements for the group including the Cash Management System.

Business Affairs: Overseeing third party licensing and internal clearances and providing business affairs support for the Group's deals, Rachael Bickerton has been named Senior Director, Business Affairs. She will also be responsible for oversight of the Repertoire and Artist Administration System database and the establishment of the North American Regional Schedule E office. Bickerton previously held Legal and Business Affairs roles with BMG in the U.K. and the U.S. and most recently worked on various projects for Smellie.

DiMuro most recently served in the position of Senior VP, Strategic Marketing, in which he oversaw the creation and implementation of corporate marketing opportunities and strategic alliances including the company's worldwide Elvis Presley campaign. Previously he served as Senior VP, Strategic Business Development, RCA Records, where he oversaw all strategic marketing initiatives and product development for the label.