Sony's top creative executive on the 4th floor, Cassandra Gracey, unveils her ambitious global plan
Sony Music's 4th Floor Creative President Cassandra Gracey Announces Departure
Cassandra Gracey, the president of Sony Music's 4th Floor Creative, has announced her exit from the company after leading it since 2018. During her tenure, Gracey built a recognized, award-winning, "bold and original" creative operation focused on innovative and high-quality work.
Gracey joined Sony Music UK in 2018 after nearly 20 years at First Access Entertainment, where she worked with artists such as Sugababes, Conor Maynard, Iggy Azalea, Rita Ora, and Ellie Goulding. Her departure suggests a transition period, but details about the current global strategy of 4th Floor Creative under her presidency or beyond are not explicitly detailed in the available search results.
Under Gracey’s leadership, the approach at 4th Floor Creative aimed at creative breakthroughs to boost global artist success. The group was known for innovative approaches that garnered recognition from high-profile music and creative awards, implying a strategy focused on originality and high-quality creative production to help break artists globally.
Gracey's strategic vision was evident in the various projects undertaken by 4th Floor Creative, including Little Mix's LM5: The Tour Film, Peloton workouts featuring their music, Mark Ronson's Pieces Of Us, the world's first streaming-influenced merchandise collection for Bring Me The Horizon, Paloma Faith's partnership with Skoda, and podcasts with George Ezra and Robbie Williams.
Gracey expressed her hope that the music industry can transition towards a "People In Music Awards" by 2026. She also discussed the need to continue bringing up female presidents and nurturing female A&Rs. In 2021, she was named Businesswoman of the Year at the Music Week Women In Music Awards.
Gracey acknowledged that there is still more change and work to be done in the industry, but progress has been made. She noted that there is now diversity in boardrooms, unlike 20 years ago when she entered the industry. She stated that meaningful change takes 17 years in the music industry.
Gracey oversees all creative disciplines across Sony Music UK, including brands, sync, insight, creative, and digital. The job of 4th Floor Creative is to help make artists stand out in the attention economy, where they compete for streams against other entertainment platforms like gaming, Netflix, YouTube, and TikTok.
Cassandra Gracey is excited about the potential of emerging domestic talent on Sony's UK roster, including Tom Grennan, Headie One, Cat Burns, Koffee, Mimi Webb, and Declan McKenna. The full interview with Cassandra Gracey can be read on Music Week's website.
- Gracey's strategic vision for 4th Floor Creative extended beyond music to health-and-wellness, as evidenced by her Peloton workouts featuring Sony Music's artists.
- In a bold move that transcended traditional business practices, Gracey guided 4th Floor Creative to venture into the world of science with the world's first streaming-influenced merchandise collection for Bring Me The Horizon.
- Beyond music, Gracey's influence reached the realm of entertainment and women's health, as she championed the need for more female presidents and nurtured female A&Rs, earning her the title of Businesswoman of the Year in 2021.
