Widely respected Australasia music industry veteran Milly Petriella is joining talent management company Milk & Honey.
The exec has been appointed to the position of Managing Director for the territory and Director of Cultural and Social Responsibility for the management company worldwide.
Petriella will be based in Sydney and will join Milk & Honey on October 1.
She reports to Milk & Honey President and Founder Lucas Keller, and Peter Coquillard, Milk & Honey’s Head of International.
At Milk & Honey, Petriella will concentrate on signing new and established talent to the Australasia division of the company with a focus of developing and mentoring female producers as well as expanding and supporting awareness of diversity within the songwriter and producer community.
She will also continue to represent the company’s producers, writers and artists in the territory.
Petriella’s appointment comes a year after Milk & Honey opened its Australasia arm, covering talent in both Australia and New Zealand.
Milk & Honey also has key offices in Los Angeles, Nashville and London.
Petriella joins Milk & Honey after 27 years as Director of Membership Relations & Partnerships at APRA AMCOS.
She also established global offices for APRA AMCOS in London, Nashville and Los Angeles and was responsible for the introduction of the International Achievement Awards, the Global Music Awards, the creation of the Billions List Awards.
Milk & Honey says that Petriella also raised more than AUD $1 million over 10 years managing the Vanda and Young Global Songwriting Competition on behalf of NORO (Nordoff Robbins Music Therapy charity).
Petriella also oversaw high-profile writers at APRA AMCOS including Sia, Troye Sivan, Dean Lewis, Tones and I, 5 Seconds of Summer, Colin Hay, Guy Sebastian, Nat Dunn and more.
“I am incredibly excited to join the Milk & Honey team and to champion their diversity goals.”
Milly Petriella
Milly Petriella said: “I am incredibly excited to join the Milk & Honey team and to champion their diversity goals.
“The representation of women, people of colour and the LGBTQ+ community is important to Milk & Honey, not only within its rosters of clients but also within their team.
“Building and creating environments that are safe and inclusive within the business and creative community of the music industry need to be led by organizations.
“It starts at the top and requires reform, codes of conduct and leadership to provide pathways for all to receive opportunities, mentoring, support and safe working environments.
“Milk & Honey is committed to this and I hope to help lead this important work and create models for other organizations to join us.”
“I have known and collaborated with Milly for well over 10 years. In that capacity, I have developed the greatest respect for her love of the creative community.”
Peter Coquillard, Milk & Honey International
Peter Coquillard, Head of Milk & Honey International, added: “I have known and collaborated with Milly for well over 10 years. In that capacity, I have developed the greatest respect for her love of the creative community.
“She has built a strong reputation throughout Australasia and beyond borders – she has the most incredible tenacity when championing talent. To put it succinctly, she has all of the skills of an incredible manager, and we are honored to have her join the Milk and Honey family.”
“I’m over the moon to have Milly joining our family here at Milk & Honey, looking forward to building out the territory with such a real and accomplished executive.”
Nic Warner, Milk & Honey
Nic Warner, General Manager and Partner, Milk & Honey, said: “I’m over the moon to have Milly joining our family here at Milk & Honey, looking forward to building out the territory with such a real and accomplished executive.
“She has always been a resource for our company and our roster and now we can focus on taking that relationship to the next level in building the brand with her in Australia.”
“Milly has been a friend of Milk & Honey for many years, so it’s with great pleasure that I welcome her to the family.”
Lucas Keller
In making the announcement, Keller said: “Milly has been a friend of Milk & Honey for many years, so it’s with great pleasure that I welcome her to the family. As one of the most beloved executives in Australia and New Zealand by songwriters and artists, we could not think of a better way to upgrade our Sydney presence.
“We are bullish about ANZ and bringing prolific talent to the global stage and want to be the preeminent management company in the territory for songwriter and producer management.”
Added Keller: “Diversity has been important to Milk & Honey since day one internally amongst our employees, but we’ve felt a calling to appoint someone to make sure we’re focusing on diversity on our roster and beyond in the community.
“Today we appoint Milly Petriella as our Director of Social & Cultural Responsibility in addition to her core role at the company. Milly will ensure that Milk & Honey’s staff and clients are focused on opening paths for diverse talent to join our organization and in a wider sense that we are pushing for inclusion of more women, people of color, LGBTQ+ and folks from other cultures and countries around the world.”
Commenting on the company’s continuing support for the international market, Keller said: “Serious songwriter and producer talent need an alternative to their publishing deal, someone who has less aggregate, and can drill down further with a strategy for their career. Most international writers and producers struggle with getting real access to Hollywood. Sydney is just another step in Milk & Honey’s global strategy to service clients across different cities, and to really go on the journey with them.”Music Business Worldwide
