Peter DiCecco has been named executive vice president, Music Business Affairs, Disney General Entertainment (DGE), it was announced today by Trisha Husson, executive vice president, Strategy and Business Operations, DGE, to whom DiCecco will report.
- In addition to overseeing music affairs across DGE, DiCecco will lead the music affairs team across various other entities within The Walt Disney Company, including ABC Owned Television Stations, Disney+, Disney Parks and Disney Consumer Products globally.
- Under DiCecco’s leadership, the DGE Music Business & Legal Affairs team will handle all deal-making, strategy, and business and legal affairs related to the production, acquisition and distribution of music for programming produced by DGE brands and studios, including:
- As part of his global responsibilities, DiCecco will continue to run the ABC music publishing catalog worldwide and oversee music business affairs for Disney’s television productions based in Latin America, Asia and other regions.
- Prior to this role, DiCecco was senior vice president and general manager, Music, overseeing music affairs for the Disney/ABC TV Group and setting music policy for top-ranking TV franchises such as High School Musical, Dancing with the Stars and Jimmy Kimmel Live!, creating ancillary business opportunities for the music assets from such franchises.
- He was instrumental in the launch of ABC’s WATCH app, the television industry’s first live and on-demand TV Everywhere service and also developed individual music strategies for the launch of Disney Junior, Localish and Disney+.
- Previously as vice president, Music and Business Affairs, ABC Entertainment Group, DiCecco was responsible for setting music policies for The ABC Television Network and for brokering all music deals for the network’s entertainment, daytime, sports, late-night and news divisions.
- During his tenure, he created Session Five, an Emmy-winning music production library for ABC. DiCecco also designed and executed ABC’s first-ever New Artist Development Program to find and cultivate new musical talent to be featured on ABC properties.
- DiCecco started at The Walt Disney Company as senior counsel in the intellectual property section of the corporate legal department, where he provided counsel to Disney’s various business units, including Disney Cruise Lines, Walt Disney Records, Touchstone Television and Disney Character Voices International.
- Among other things, he negotiated music deals for the grand opening of Disney’s California Adventure theme park and launched the “Radio Disney Jams” and “Grey’s Anatomy” soundtrack franchises.
- Additionally, DiCecco was a subject matter expert and member of Disney’s New Technology Committee, the first-ever user-generated content committee, and the Monetizing Streaming Content Committee, among others.
What they’re saying:
- Trisha Husson, executive vice president, Strategy and Business Operations, DGE: “Peter is a well-respected industry executive who has been integral to the ever-evolving business of music in television. His creative deal-making and vision have helped shape and expand the storytelling landscape through music, bringing greater dimensionality to DGE’s award-winning content.”
- Peter DiCecco: “It is an incredible honor to lead the ongoing efforts to elevate our incredible series, specials and franchises through music. I feel very fortunate to work with such an extraordinary team of executives who trust my judgment and my ability to address music during the development, production and marketing of our programs.”