{"id":253872,"date":"2026-03-26T16:23:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:23:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=253872"},"modified":"2026-03-26T16:23:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T16:23:43","slug":"key-songs-in-the-life-of-colleen-theis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/key-songs-in-the-life-of-colleen-theis\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Songs In The Life Of\u2026 Colleen Theis"},"content":{"rendered":"

MBW\u2019s Key Songs In The Life Of\u2026 is a series in which we ask influential music industry figures about the tracks that have defined their life and career so far. This time, Colleen Theis, President and COO of The Orchard, sits down with MBW to discuss the songs \u2013 but more importantly, the experiences \u2013 that have defined her life to date. The Key Songs<\/strong>\u2026 series is supported by\u00a0Sony Music Publishing<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

It\u2019s pronounced tice<\/i>. It\u2019s important that we establish this about Colleen Theis\u2019 surname now, otherwise one of her anecdotes won\u2019t scan. Not that it really matters. Colleen lives a colorful life; if you miss one fizzing tale from her story so far, another is sure to arrive at any moment.<\/p>\n

Theis is meeting MBW<\/i> in New York to discuss the seven songs that have most meaningfully soundtracked her existence. (A born rule-breaker, she blasts way past seven.)<\/p>\n

On the way, we go roller-skating in Dallas and salsa dancing in Spain; we go jelly-legged at Duran Duran, and make Robert Smith blush; we risk it all on a library in Queens, toast to departed parents, and stroll inside one of the 1980s\u2019 most hedonistic nightclubs. (Please, keep your hands out of the fishbowl.)<\/p>\n

<\/div>
<\/div>
<\/div> <\/div> \n

Today, as President and COO at The Orchard, Theis \u2013 with CEO Brad Navin \u2013 oversees a catalog spanning tens of millions of tracks. MBW<\/i> estimates it generates approximately $2 billion annually.<\/p>\n

Previously, after Rykodisc\u2019s acquisition by Warner in 2006, Theis built ADA\u2019s international arm as SVP of ADA Global, before making what she calls a \u201cleap of faith\u201d to join The Orchard in 2011.<\/p>\n

At the time, friends in the industry questioned the move. \u201cI had people saying, \u2018Are you going to be okay? Can I take you to lunch? I\u2019ll pay, don\u2019t worry!\u2019\u201d she recalls. Theis\u2019 bet, of course, was a wise one: four years after she joined, The Orchard was fully acquired by Sony Music \u2013 and has rapidly grown ever since.<\/p>\n

Yet long before any of this, and way before the corner office, there was a Texan teenager with big hair working at the mall, spending every spare dollar at Bill\u2019s Records \u2013 her original portal to a more vibrant world.<\/p>\n

Theis\u2019 journey from Dallas to New York \u2013 plus a transformative 12-year pitstop in London \u2013 reads like a love letter to the power of taking risks, while blasting great tunes\u2026<\/p>\n

\n
<\/a><\/i><\/a><\/figure>1) Wichita Lineman, Glen Campbell (1968) \/ I Don\u2019t Want To Know, Fleetwood Mac (1977)<\/b><\/h6>\n

Wichita Lineman<\/i> reminds me of childhood \u2013 of family road trips and Sunday afternoons in Texas. I remember listening to it in my dad\u2019s Cadillac, driving to
\nSan Antonio to drop me off at camp, staring out the window at endless flat land rolling by. My mom liked to make a weekend of it. We used to stop at one of those little roadside motels \u2013 it was a Howard Johnson\u2019s, orange and blue with a little fun swimming pool.<\/p>\n

My dad grew up in Indiana but really embraced the whole Texan spirit. He bought farmland in the country [outside Dallas] in the \u201870s and we spent a lot of time there when I was growing up. His dream was to have a horse farm where all the generations would live together. He was the life of the party, an entrepreneur, and very charismatic. He had a tough persona; he considered himself a western cowboy. He died suddenly when I was 22. Up until then, he had always bailed me out of everything. When he was gone, I was like, \u2018I have to take care of myself now, I better focus.\u2019 It worked out.<\/p>\n

\n

\u201cI listened to it in my dad\u2019s Cadillac, staring out the window at endless flat land rolling by.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Alongside my dad, my mom passed 12 years ago. One of my sisters is gone, too. It\u2019s a lot.<\/p>\n

Rumours<\/i> was one of many records I got from my two sisters when I was very young. It came out in \u201877; I was born in \u201869.\u00a0 <\/span>I love the harmonies in I Don\u2019t Want To Know<\/i>. My sisters introduced me to a ton of stuff \u2013 Ted Nugent, Jim Croce, Fleetwood Mac, Rod Stewart, and more.<\/p>\n

My sister Jody is ten years older than me and lives on the farm outside Dallas. I took her to Madison Square Garden to see \u2018An Evening With Fleetwood Mac\u2019, including Christine McVie, in 2019. We had great seats. It was awesome to share that together.<\/p>\n

\n