Sam Kling serves as Senior Vice President, Creative Operations for SESAC Holdings, Inc., where he oversees the company’s growth strategies for artists affiliations, music publishers and new business opportunities within the creative community. Kling also manages the Creative Services team in London, New York, Nashville and Los Angeles, where he resides.
Since joining SESAC in 2014, Kling has installed an innovative client services structure as well as elevated the company’s affiliate roster by collaborating with some of the industry’s most significant artists, music publishers and managers. He has led the department’s strategic effort to secure songwriters and composer affiliations such as Adele, Rosanne Cash, Green Day, Kesha, Kings of Leon, Shawn Stockman, Robin Thicke, and more. Kling also spearheaded the partnership signing of publishing company Universal Publishing Production Music.
Kling is also bridging the gap between the recently-launched Mint Digital Services, (a joint venture between SESAC Holdings and Swiss collection society, SUISA) and U.S.-based music publishers to ensure a smooth rollout within the U.S. Mint Digital Services administers licenses to use musical compositions in multi-territorial online music services on behalf of music publishers.
Prior to SESAC, Kling served as Vice President at peermusic, where he oversaw the independent music company’s US Pop A&R as well as Film & Television creative operations. Preceding peer, Kling served as Vice President of Film & Television for BMG Music Publishing where he managed their U.S. synchronization operations.
Kling is a T.J. Martell Foundation Los Angeles board member, a voting member of The Recording Academy as well as a board member of the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP). He is a member of the Academy of Country Music, Americana Music Association, and Country Music Association. Kling holds a bachelor’s degree from the New School University in New York and an MBA from the UCLA Anderson School of Management.
