BEDARD GETS HIS
PUMPED-UP KICKS

Columbia’s Brady Bedard has been given his SVP stripes and a brand-new official hoodie-and-sneakers combo by his boss, EVP Promotion Lee Leipsner, who broke the news on Wednesday. Bedard’s new title is SVP of Pop Promotion; his old one was VP of Rock and Alternative Promotion.

“Brady has proven to be indispensable to our entire department through the years, with his wide range of promotion experience at the label,” Leipsner stated in the announcement. “His passion for our diverse roster, his great rapport with his radio peers and the Columbia staff and his keen understanding of the always-changing promotion dynamics make him the ideal executive to lead our pop team. All of Columbia joins me in congratulating him on this well-deserved promotion. Also, he truly excels at fetching dog treats for Ms. Larry David.”

Bedard thoughtfully thanked Leipsner, Jen Mallory and Ron Perry before getting to the heart of the matter. “I’ve been at Columbia my entire career,” he noted, “and this is a position I’ve always dreamed about coming up through the ranks at the label. I look forward to reaching new heights alongside this great promotion team as we deliver the world’s best artists and their groundbreaking music that continues to move the culture.”

Bedard, who hails from Minneapolis, joined Sony Music as a college rep in 1998 and became a field marketing rep before moving to the Columbia promo department in 2001 and climbing the ladder rung by rung. In his previous job, he worked on successful promotion campaigns for such acts as Foster the People, Arcade Fire, LCD Soundsystem, Hozier, Daft Punk, John Mayer and Jack White.

In related Columbia news, we’ve also learned that Matt Stevens will be named VP Promotion and Market Strategy, while Samantha Brenner is elevated to Senior Director of Pop. He will be based in N.Y., and she’ll be in L.A.