Sony Music is expanding its Artists Forward program with the opening of Artist Assistance, which offers access to free, confidential counseling services to address stress, anxiety, depression, grief, family and relationship issues.

Active-roster artists around the world will now be able connect with a dedicated, licensed therapist at no cost. Participation is completely confidential, according to a letter Sony sent out today.

Susan Moultrie has returned to the label group as the main point of coordination for the program; she’ll serve as SVP of Artist Initiatives and Business Administration.

“This is a broad global effort aimed at promoting wellness for our signed talent and providing them with relevant information and key resources for their careers,” Sony said in the letter obtained by HITS.

Moultrie, who was with Sony from 1995 to 2008 on the business side, will oversee the development and implementation of additional offerings intended to increase support for artists.

The letter continues, “Sony is also developing a global program for newly signed artists to provide them with expanded information and resources about being a member of the Sony Music roster, as well as best practices to maximize the promotion and success of their releases. It will cover a variety of topics, including how Sony Music works with its artists to secure music placements with our digital partners, how to avoid pre-release leaks and how to prevent last-minute creative changes due to clearance issues, among other considerations.

"Additionally," it reads, "we will further enhance our resources focused on answering artist and participant questions around earnings statements, payments and how Sony Music’s artist portal and data-analytics tools work.”

No word yet on resources to help artists find words that rhyme with "pandemic."