Blackstone to BMG

BMG BAGS BLACKSTONE: BMG Music rights company, a joint venture between Bertelsmann and private equity firm KKR, has named veteran pub exec Richard Blackstone to the post of Chief Creative Officer, reporting to CEO Hartwig Masuch, based in N.Y. Blackstone, who has previous stints as Chairman/CEO of Warner/Chappell Music Publishing from 2005-’07 and Zomba Music Publishing President before that, will oversee the pubbery’s recently acquired companies, which includes Cherry Lane, Stage Three and Evergreen Copyrights. He most recently worked with Zac Brown Band writer Wyatt Durett. The appointment gives fuel to the belief BMG will be a major player for EMI Music Publishing if it comes into play after the current Terra Firma-Citigroup trial. (10/27p)