Sean Hickey appointed managing director of PENTATONE
PENTATONE is pleased to welcome its new Managing Director, Sean Hickey. Sean has enjoyed a three-decade career in the recording industry, most recently as Senior Vice-President, Sales and Business Development, for Naxos of America, part of the largest classical music group in the world. For 19 years, he was part of the transformation of Naxos from a regional CD distributor to a multi-million-dollar global music group handling physical and digital distribution, licensing, PPI collection, retail and DTC management, budgeting, and overall strategy. Sean is a key component of the alliance of companies under the San Francisco Conservatory of Music.
“If there were a contest for hardest working man in New Music, my choice for a winner would be Sean Hickey.”
– Sequenza 21
Sean is an award-winning composer with a number of recordings to his credit on the Naxos, Delos, Our, Marquis, Toccata, Prospero, and Affeto labels. His works are performed across the world, and he is currently fulfilling commissions for the Interlochen Center for the Arts and guitarist Matthew Cochran.
Sean also lectures widely on new media and musician entrepreneurship at colleges and conservatories throughout the world, developing a more flexible and deeper module at the Danube University in 2019. He is a long-standing member of the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, as well as a committee chair.
On the announcement of the appointment, Sean Hickey said,
“I am delighted and humbled to join the team at PENTATONE. No classical label has undergone as swift and as far-reaching a transformation over the past several years; I look forward to meeting the challenge of developing PENTATONE’s further transformation in this next step of its evolution. With its years-long commitment to the best in sound recordings, long-term relationships with innovative artists, and a strategy oriented towards our digital age, PENTATONE stands at the absolute forefront of independent labels. I believe strongly that the coming years present some of the biggest challenges and opportunities facing any label or broader music organization. But I am optimistic that PENTATONE’s best days are still to come. I am honoured to lead and be a part of this innovative organization.”
Simon M. Eder, former Managing Director, said,
“I am extremely happy that PENTATONE welcomes Sean Hickey as Managing Director. Not only has he known the label since its early years, but with his extensive distribution and industry knowledge he has supported the international growth of the label over the last two decades. With his unique, entrepreneurial spirit, combined with a profound artist soul, the label could absolutely not be in better hands.”