Travis Scott’s Cactus Jack GM, Warner Chappell A&R Dynamos Among Music’s New Leaders
Every year Variety seeks to identify the next generation of leaders in the entertainment business who represent the creative community of film, TV, music and the digital space. The 2020 music industry group has in common ambition and conviction and includes a pair of duos — Warner Chappell’s Ryan Press and Shani Gonzales and Create Music Group’s Jonathan Strauss and Alexandre Williams — along with selected solo acts from such innovation-forward companies as Cactus Jack, Kobalt and SB Projects.
See the full list here.
Sam Alpert
SVP of marketing, Paradigm, 39
When the COVID-19 pandemic put a stop to touring, Alpert and his team were thrown into the untested world of live streams. In that market, inundated with stripped-down living-room performances, Alpert has strived to give at-home audiences a unique experience, and shows with Oliver Tree, Rebelution and Liz Phair have done just that. “There are new models coming out where you will want to pay for a ticket because you’re seeing a piece of art, you’re seeing something different,” Alpert says. “These top-tier artists are going to try and one-up each other. It’s like the modern-day launch of the music video.” (ES)
Rob Brown
VP of business affairs, Kobalt Music, 34
Brought in from Kobalt’s London division in 2016 to be the first attorney in its L.A. office, Brown has closed more than a thousand deals in his tenure. These include a reupping deal with Finneas, following Billie Eilish’s breakthrough, and deals with Roddy Ricch and Issa Rae’s Raedio Publishing. He was also proactive during the music industry’s recent Blackout moment. “I don’t want to be categorized as only able to lead in this particular topic of conversation, but as I do fall into this category, it’s important for me to use my voice when it’s necessary,” he says. “And it’s always necessary.” (CW)
Shani Gonzales
Managing director of Warner Chappell Music U.K., head of international A&R, Warner Chappell Music, 39
Named managing director of Warner Chappell’s U.K. operation earlier this month, Gonzales is a founding member of Warner Music Group’s diversity and inclusion council, and in that role, helped plan her division’s open discussion on racial injustice earlier this year; another is planned later in 2020. During the pandemic, she has been running her global A&R team virtually. “Zoom meetings will never fully replace the vibe and energy of in-person [songwriting] sessions, but they’re opening up opportunities for people from different countries, genres and backgrounds to connect and create music together.” (JT)
Ludwig Göransson
Composer, 36
In just six years, Göransson has rocketed from fledgling composer to Oscar-winner and triple Grammy honoree with an Emmy win on top of that. The Swedish-born musician won an Oscar for his “Black Panther” score, and two of his three Grammys for “This Is America,” which he co-wrote and produced with Donald Glover as Childish Gambino. His third Grammy came for his “Black Panther” soundtrack and he won his Emmy for “The Mandalorian’s” score. Göransson scored Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” and the second season of “Mandalorian” and considers himself “fortunate to work on projects that feel very meaningful.” He believes in “going all-in on everything I do. Fully commit and give everything you’ve got.” (JB)
Rohan Kohli
Senior director of A&R, Warner Music Nashville, 34
Soon after joining Warner’s country A&R team in 2017, Kohli joined Dan + Shay on insisting, counterintuitively, that the ballad “Tequila” be their next album’s first single — and because of which they became superstars. Ingrid Andress’ tradition-breaking “More Hearts Than Mine” subsequently hit No. 1, after a long chart dearth of rookie women: “It’s so fun and beautiful to watch a great song hit the top of the charts,” Kohli says. “I always drove by Warner and thought, ‘God, how cool would it be to work there someday?’ — thinking there was a 0% chance,” he says. “It speaks to how open-minded country is that they’re gonna take a shot on an A&R who’s an Indian guy from L.A.” (CW)
Justin Lubliner
Owner, Darkroom, 30
“My label guy, Justin, was like the only person I trusted to begin with,” Billie Eilish said of Lubliner when accepting Variety’s Hitmaker of the Year award last year. “That’s no shade to anyone, but I feel like he saw something in me.” Lubliner founded Darkroom as a 20-year-old USC student and gradually transformed it from an EDM-focused marketing company into a multifaceted enterprise that includes publishing, management and branding. Now focused on the label side, he was one of the first members of Eilish’s tight-knit team, which united around her after the then-14-year-old Eilish posted “Ocean Eyes” on SoundCloud late in 2015. Other artists include Oliver Malcolm and Gryffin. (JA)
Shauna Nep
VP of philanthropy, SB Projects, 33
“Since the company was founded, SB Projects has always incorporated social good into everything the company and our clients do,” says Nep of Scooter Braun’s 12-year-old management concern, which counts Ariana Grande, Justin Bieber and Demi Lovato on its roster. Among its initiatives: Demi Lovato’s the Mental Health Fund; Lil Dicky’s $800,000 donation to fight COVID-19 and climate change; and Ariana Grande’s partnership with HeadCount to register voters. “There is so much need, and our artists want to help,” says Nep, who helps mobilize “massive fanbases to take action on issues that matter and help them vote safely this election cycle.” (JT)
Ryan Press
President of A&R, U.S., Warner Chappell Music, 39
The global pandemic hasn’t slowed Press down. “If anything, the deal flow has increased,” says Press, president of U.S. A&R for two years. “Everyone’s sitting down, so you get to have a lot more one-on-one engagement.” His roster includes Lizzo, Summer Walker, Partynextdoor, Justin Trante and the late rapper Pop Smoke, plus emergent hitmakers like Section 8 (“The Bigger Picture”) and SethInTheKitchen (“Rockstar”). “Signing people is one thing, but being able to actually develop them is what publishing is really about,” Press says. “It’s one of the last places where that old-school artist development and songwriter development stage still exists.” (AB)
Jonathan Strauss and Alexandre Williams
Co-founders, Create Music Group, 34 and 32
Strauss and Williams started Create Music in 2015 to track and collect YouTube royalties for independent artists, many of whom didn’t know they were owed money. Since then, it has grown into a mini-empire with a staff of 125 people (average age: 26) that handles rights management, distribution, music publishing and advertising. CMG brought in $28 million in revenue in 2018 and is enjoying a major windfall from distributing controversial rapper 6ix9ine’s music. With his single “Trollz,” Create became the first true independent company to score a No. 1 single in the U.S. in many years. Next up for the high school friends: a 25,000-sq.-ft. space in Hollywood that includes five state-of-the-art recording studios and a soundstage.(JA)
David Stromberg
General Manager, Cactus Jack, 32
You could call Stromberg the Cactus Jack of all trades — at least of the Travis Scott kind. The rapper’s calling card is a multi-product mini-empire and Stromberg, as manager and GM, is in charge of all branding, merch, artist development and creative consulting. This includes Scott’s recent partnership with McDonald’s and Cactus Jack’s Fortnite event, “Astronomical,” which reached 45 million viewers in April and launched Scott’s collaboration with Kid Cudi straight to No. 1. Says Stromberg: “We pride ourselves in coming up with inventive strategies and being able to take anything to the next level regardless of what it is; sneakers, cereal, clothing, films, video games, or even iconic brands such as McDonald’s. When we are rolling out something, we make sure that each part of our company is moving.” (ES)
Pictured from left: Shani Gonzales, Ryan Press and David Stromberg.
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