Unemployment – at least in the United States – is now solidly past 10 percent, a conservative estimate that does not include those exiting the job market in frustration.  Or, for that matter, those settling on part-time positions to simply pay the bills.  Stir a disrupted and distressed media industry into the mix, and job hunting has never been more arduous. 

Big labels have been trimming down for years, often in small portions to avoid negative publicity.  Startups are also shy to hire, though companies are slowly starting to staff.  The Digital Music News Job Board, once a barren landscape, is showing more life every week, and a number of companies and executives are making moves.

That includes music blog powerhouse BuzzMedia, which just bolstered its ad sales team by naming Chris George to the position of Senior Vice President of Integrated Marketing & Operations.  BuzzMedia is the umbrella for a wide range of music-related sites, most notably Stereogum, Idolator, Lyrics.com, and the Hype Machine.  George comes from MySpace.

Who else?  At Warner Music Group, Warner/Chappell Music UK head of Film, Television & Advertising Jim Reid is now broadening to assume a label group position.  Specifically, Reid will handle pan-European synchronization across recording and publishing catalogs, officially wearing the title of Vice President, Synchronization – Europe at Warner Music Group.