Management
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Ariana Grande and HYBE, led by CEO Scooter Braun, look forward to continuing their long-standing business partnership and pursuing creative opportunities in Weverse and REM Beauty, according to representatives for the superstar and global company. Grande in this new chapter will continue to be managed exclusively by Brandon Creed and his Good World Management, to […]
Asked to recall his first musical memory, James Rosemond Jr. is quick to answer: R&B duo Groove Theory’s 1995 R&B/pop classic, “Tell Me.” He sings a snippet of the song’s infectious refrain — “Tell me if you want me to…” — and says with a laugh, “I was 4 years old, but that’s the way I fell in love with music.”
Growing up, there was plenty of music to love. Rosemond, now 31, is the son of former artist manager Jimmy Rosemond, who represented Gucci Mane, The Game, Salt-N-Pepa and others. And over the past two years, he has blazed his own path in the profession, helping guide rapper Ice Spice to crossover stardom. Since breaking through in 2022 with the viral TikTok hit “Munch (Feelin’ U),” Ice has garnered four Grammy Award nominations, and in 2023, she released four top 10 Billboard Hot 100 singles: “Princess Diana” with Nicki Minaj, “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2” with PinkPantheress, “Karma” with Taylor Swift and “Barbie World” with Minaj and Aqua.
Ice is not Rosemond’s sole client. His Miami-based Mastermind Artists also manages the young rapper’s go-to producer, RIOTUSA, as well as DJ-producer Diablo, who works with Diplo. Former clients include Sean Kingston and songwriter Infrared (Fat Joe, French Montana). Prior to launching Mastermind 12 years ago, Rosemond honed his business skills while brokering publishing deals for songwriters and producers with Primary Wave Music CEO Larry Mestel and Ultra International Music Publishing founder Patrick Moxey.
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A painting of the iconic 1968 Esquire cover depicting Muhammad Ali as St. Sebastian. “The photo was shot during the Civil Rights movement and represents sacrifice. As a talent manager, that’s the space I occupy,” Rosemond says.
Alfonso Duran
Rosemond achieved these wins in the face of family upheaval. His father is serving life in prison after being convicted in 2013 of crimes tied to a cocaine-trafficking operation and in 2014 to the 2009 death of G-Unit affiliate Lowell “Lodi Mack” Fletcher. Rosemond says he speaks to his father “all the time” and continues to receive “life advice” from him — “like what any father would give his young adult son in this world.” As for business counsel, he adds, “Times change, and I don’t think he understands streaming, TikTok and other data the way I do, so there’s not much advice there.”
That said, Rosemond came of age watching his father successfully navigate the music business and continues to use much of what he absorbed — especially “creative deal-making,” he says. “Those conversations of how to negotiate and secure a deal, and what to look for in a deal. That always stuck with me.”
He is using some of that advice as he conducts “strategic conversations” to strengthen the firm’s infrastructure, including expanding into more musical genres. Meanwhile, he’s busy preparing for Ice’s debut studio album, Y2K, which is due July 26 on 10K Projects/Capitol Records. The album has been teased by two singles: “Think U the Shit (Fart)” and the latest, “Gimmie the Light,” which she performed at Coachella in April. Also stoking anticipation for the album: 50,000 MetroCards featuring Ice’s image were recently made available in collaboration with Capitol Records at four New York subway stations.
Rosemond says that kind of creative thinking keeps him excited about the music industry. “I love that it keeps me on my toes. I want to feel the challenge.”
A “blur figure” of a $100 bill that friends at the Brooklyn art collective MSCHF gifted to Rosemond.
Alfonso Duran
What was it like growing up with a parent who was such a force in the music industry?
It was definitely an eye-opener. I like to say to people that I live in dog years because of the information and experience that I was privy to early on — the lingo, the conversations and the behind-the-scenes scenarios that I was able to experience. I have to give credit to all of that for where I am today success-wise.
What key lessons did you learn that you use today?
To really listen and forever be a student. A lot of people come into this business quickly and feel like they know it all. No matter what artists my father represented, he still felt like a sponge; always learning new things. I carry that with me to this day.
How has being Jimmy Rosemond’s son affected the way people in the industry deal with you?
I would say that a lot of veterans look out for each other in the way that peers look out for each other. That has always been the spirit in the music industry. There hasn’t been much of a difference between my father being home and not being home.
How did you get into brokering publishing deals?
I always found myself in the same circle as songwriters and producers, who had income or pipeline hits and needed help. And through my relationships with Larry and Patrick — and having a good lawyer by my side — I was able to connect the dots. It’s also how I was able to kick off my company.
A gold record plaque (left) for Ice Spice’s “Munch” single, “the breakthrough that started it all,” and a platinum plaque for “Boy’s a Liar, Pt. 2,” the record “that crossed us over to top 40,” he says.
Alfonso Duran
Did that prompt your pivot into artist management?
Yes, because I’m a nerd when it comes to business, especially the deal-making. Outside of the day-to-day with an artist, it’s about brokering amazing deals for artists; helping them really understand the difference in what they have versus what others have and then having them see the value of what I can bring to the table. I get high on that.
What was it about Ice Spice, your first female client, that caught your ear?
It was her tone and the production she was picking. When I came across her early on, she only had about two or three songs out. She didn’t have the crazy monthly listeners and social numbers. Then I came across a song called “No Clarity,” a drill flip of Zedd’s “Clarity,” and heard the song’s possibilities. Next, I heard “Name of Love.” One, she’s working with the same producer [RIOTUSA] and they’re creating a sound. Two, her tone, and three, they’re flipping these crossover samples in drills. That got me. Then I saw her image — the curls, which was different — and I’m like, “Whoa!”
Talk about the marketing strategy behind Ice Spice with Dunkin’ and New York’s subway system.
Coming out of the gate, it was always three-dimensional chess. “Less is more” was our conversation and “Let’s not saturate.” Strategically, it was also about digital. When we put “Munch” out, we got the right digital team, which was Create Music Group. Its sister companies include WorldStar and Genius. I never want to feel like an artist is on a treadmill. I always want them to feel like they’re moving forward from A to C, C to E. So I did a strategic play on the digital side to accelerate her growth, social and in the market. “Munch” was everywhere that first week we put it out. And that was due to the strategic play that I was able to put together using the song as currency.
That led to Dunkin’?
Yes. When that opportunity came to us, it was a no-brainer because her fan base is called Munchkins. We always like to tap into social media and see what people are thinking or talking about. It’s not like we’re coming in and saying, “Yo, we should do Dunkin’.” It’s coming up with the idea because we’re hearing the conversations about what fans want to see. It’s there; we’re just listening.
Gold camel souvenir from a vacation in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: “Camels, known for their resilience and adaptability, also represent patience and determination.”
Alfonso Duran
How did you enable her to retain her masters?
It was really about giving her all the right information. Like, this is where the market is going. It’s about independence. It’s about retaining ownership; about intellectual property and generational wealth. That sometimes there are sacrifices — that people may be dangling money. But if you want a certain type of deal, you have to be patient as we do the work to have leverage. That was the conversation early on. And thank God she listened and was able to hold out while we kept running up the numbers on “Munch.” Then it became, “Let’s entertain these deals” and, as I said earlier, begin to shape one in a creative way. Now, she not only retains her masters but also her publishing rights and still gets upfront money as if she’s a work for hire. It’s a hybrid type of deal that you don’t see often. And it comes with doing the work, having patience and creating leverage.
In the wake of major-label restructuring and shrinking promotion departments, is radio still important?
Absolutely. I tell my clients, “Streaming is the club, radio is VIP.” We want to get into the club and we want to get into the VIP section. And radio still feels somewhat exclusive. People are still driving and listening to the radio. And it’s not only about an artist breaking through. Once again, there’s the economics of it. If you have a publishing deal, one important factor is radio airplay. So why wouldn’t you want to have music on the radio?
Is there one thing you always tell a new client up front?
That economics is always going to play its part. That’s No. 1. Artists come in with big expectations like wanting the luxurious stuff. To keep them grounded on that front, I always remind them that it’s about profit and loss. So the more money they spend, they’ve got to crank out hits to make sure labels and publishers will want to continue to spend money on them.
It’s 9 p.m. on a Wednesday evening in Miami, and Ty Baisden is still taking care of business with an energy level that belies the hour.
“I’m a firm sleeper who gets my eight hours,” says Baisden, his Georgian drawl giving way to laughter. “But what I don’t do is the bulls–t. So subtract the bulls–t, and you’ve got a lot of time to work and a lot of time to rest.”
That philosophy has anchored Baisden since he broke into the business as a manager in 2008. During that time, the native Atlantan also closely observed successful creative/business partnerships including Disturbing Tha Peace Records with Ludacris and Chaka Zulu and Grand Hustle Records with T.I. and Jason Geter.
Given the tenuousness of most manager-artist relationships, Baisden wanted to apply that collaborative model to the right act. “I was like, ‘I’ve got to find an artist that will want to partner with me where they deal with all the creative and I deal with all the business. Then we can build a company together, and we’ll be protected because the company is our protection.’ ”
In 2014, he found an ideal artist-partner in Brent Faiyaz after discovering him on SoundCloud. “It wasn’t an easy thing,” Baisden recalls. “I had executives telling me, ‘Don’t partner with artists; that’s dumb.’ And I had artists thinking, ‘No, I’d rather do something with a major label.’ Brent was the first artist that really believed in the overall process of that kind of partnership.”
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Over the last nine years, the business alignment between Baisden’s firm COLTURE — an acronym that stands for Can Our Leverage Teach Us Real Equity — where he is head of ventures and innovation — and Faiyaz’s Lost Kids label has yielded several successes. Among them: Faiyaz’s 2020 EP, F–k the World, bowing at No. 20 on the Billboard 200, followed by his momentous No. 2 debut with second studio album Wasteland — against Bad Bunny’s multiweek No. 1 juggernaut Un Verano Sin Ti — in 2022.
Then in 2023, Faiyaz’s F*ck the World, It’s a Wasteland Tour grossed $5.3 million and sold 68,000 tickets over 18 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore. Separately, in 2023, he launched his own creative agency, ISO Supremacy, in partnership with UnitedMasters. (Baisden is not involved.) ISO joined forces with PULSE Records in an artist development joint venture, and in May struck gold with genre-melding R&B singer Tommy Richman, whose “Million Dollar Baby” has spent two weeks at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Splitting his time between Atlanta and Miami with a 22-member staff, Baisden, 40, works alongside COLTURE co-founder and head of creative services Jayne Andrew and partner Paris “PK” Kirk. The three are also co-founders and equity partners in COLTURE Holdings, which houses the firm’s nonmusic-related businesses.
“I don’t manage artists,” Baisden says of the business he has built with Faiyaz. “The skin that I have in the game is seeing another Black man be successful in whatever they want to do.”
Devin Christopher
What COLTURE accomplishment stands out over the last 18 months?
Our company vertically integrated and built Brent’s [2023] tour from start to finish. Usually, management will hire out for everything to get done. I partnered with Wasserman Music’s Callender to route it and negotiate the deals. Meanwhile, I handled the entire budget. Jayne handled all the band details, creative direction and making sure Brent felt comfortable onstage while PK handled all the lifestyle and afterparty events. And we each split time going to the different [tour stops] and booking the buses, freight and travel.
That’s not the job of managers, but we’re not managers; we build businesses. To build a business, you’ve got to manage the budget so you can determine your margin. Brent’s tour profited because we controlled every single dollar that was spent. I just think that’s very loud. So many people go out on the road and don’t make money. The artist gets paid, but when it’s time to do your balance sheet, you come out in the red. Many times, when you have other people managing a big lift, you’re going to get blindly overcharged.
How does the COLTURE partnership with Faiyaz and Lost Kids work?
Christopher Brent Wood [Faiyaz’s birth name] and I are business partners. When Christopher turns into the artist Brent Faiyaz and I’m operating on the latter’s behalf, then my job title is manager, for which I get a percentage. That’s probably the best way I can put it. We’re 50/50 partners in Lost Kids, under which we have multiple businesses. That was basically our handshake to one another in the beginning. Those projects and his tours are the financial seeds for Brent and me to go out and make individual investments. Lost Kids gave Brent the opportunity to invest in ISO Supremacy with his high school friend Darren Xu, and now they’re having a huge success with Tommy Richman. Beyond music and publishing, our biggest investments under Lost Kids involve real estate in Atlanta and Dallas and more than 20 startup companies, including Athletic Greens, Therabody, Audio Shake and Seed. And the great thing is three of those four companies — Seed, Audio Shake and Athletic Greens — are led by women.
Lost Kids also sponsors annual initiatives on behalf of female executives and entrepreneurs.
We just finished our fourth annual Show You Off grant program, giving 12 women $10,000 grants each to run their own business or launch a new idea. One of the policies of the grant is to reward Black women that are from the DMV [Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia] area. This year was a heavy one with new ideas involving STEM companies, [artificial intelligence] technology, electric batteries, etc. Thus far, we’ve donated about half a million dollars or more to Black women-helmed businesses.
What additional clients and businesses are under the COLTURE umbrella?
On the producer side, we have Nascent, who’s just finishing his project, Don’t Grow Up Too Soon, that we’ll distribute independently; Jordan Waré and Dpat, who have both worked with Brent. We have a partnership with [podcast] Million Dollaz Worth of Game to help [former rapper/co-host Gillie Da Kid] build out a music division. We’re doing their artist N3wyrkla’s first rollout with Troy Carter’s Venice Music. We collaborate as well with [pop duo] Emotional Oranges on distribution and creative direction when needed. Then, in the same kind of partnership I have with Brent, there’s Canadian female artist Kalisway, who writes and produces funk and R&B. Lastly, we’re helping actor Malcolm Mays [Starz’s Raising Kanan] launch his music career to diversify his business.
What’s the biggest issue facing the independent community right now?
An indie company can put out a song and the song can blow up, but more than likely, the company doesn’t have sufficient infrastructure to make sure everybody’s paid fairly based on their contributions to the record that just changed their artist’s life. The artist and the label are going to get big checks, but the songwriters and producers are probably going to get paid a year or two later, depending on how savvy their manager is — if they even have a manager.
Where do you envision COLTURE three to five years from now?
We have a 10-year plan outlining that parent company COLTURE Holdings will be generating $100 million in revenue by 2030. That’s the goal. Over the next three years, we’re launching our full-fledged media department, including TV, film, podcasting and digital content. The sports division is developing, and we’re continuing our real estate operation. We’re basically building a community and a pipeline for disrupters who can either stay within our ecosystem or build their own businesses.
Additional reporting by Shira Brown.
This story originally appeared in the June 8, 2024, issue of Billboard.
The Black Keys has parted ways with its managers, Irving Azoff and Steve Moir, following the abrupt cancellation of the band’s arena tour in North America late last month. First reported by the New York Times, a representative for Azoff has confirmed the split, telling Billboard it was an “amicable parting.” Representatives for The Black […]
Range Music has promoted Jared Cotter to partner, the company announced Thursday (May 23). Cotter, who has been at Range since 2022, had been vp of A&R for the management company, which operates as the music division under the umbrella of Range Media Partners. Cotter manages Paul Russell, whose song “Lil Boo Thing” reached No. […]
Last year, an unknown artist named Tommy Richman stunned as a guest on Brent Faiyaz’s Larger Than Life, appearing on “Upset” alongside FELIX! (The song reached No. 12 on Hot R&B Songs last November.) But now, Richman, who is signed to Faiyaz’ ISO Supremacy label, is making a much larger impression with a hit of his own.
On April 26, Richman released the bouncy “Million Dollar Baby,” on which he flexes his falsetto and genre-blurring sensibilities. The song debuted with 38 million official U.S. streams in its first week of release (April 26-May 2), according to Luminate. “Million Dollar Baby” also scored Richman his first Hot 100 entry, debuting at No. 2 — behind only Taylor Swift and Post Malone’s “Fortnight.” The song also debuts atop the Steaming Songs chart, making Richman the first artist since Olivia Rodrigo with “Drivers License” in 2021 to launch a solo first entry atop the chart.
As previously reported by Billboard, the song’s grand entrance resulted in a boost for Richman’s discography; not including “Baby,” Richman’s catalog posted nearly 2.1 million on-demand U.S. audio streams (across April 26-29), a gain of 106% from the four-day period before. And now, in its second week, the song not only remains at No. 2 on the Hot 100, it climbs to No. 2 on the Billboard Global 200 and reaches No. 1 on the TikTok Top 50, as it continues to gain steam.
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The Woodbridge, Va.-born artist was the first to sign to ISO Supremacy (in partnership with PULSE Records). In addition to scoring a feature on Faiyaz’s last album, Richman also opened for the label boss on his 2023 F*ck the World, It’s a Wasteland Tour. And now, Darren Xu, COO of ISO Supremacy, earns the title of Billboard‘s Executive of the Week.
Despite much of this success seemingly coming out of nowhere, Xu can’t help but look back knowingly, having always believed Richman would reach this moment. As “Baby” continues to grow — thanks in large part to TikTok, where the song has soundtracked 218.3K clips and counting — his team is focused on the future. As Xu, says: “It’s going to be all gas, no brakes.”
Since the Hot 100 began in 1958, only five other acts have debuted in the chart’s top two with no prior history on the chart. Why is “Million Dollar Baby” connecting so strongly?
I feel like “Million Dollar Baby” is a real testament to the climate of social media today. It really shows that if you make good music, it will reach the right audience. Tommy is creating new sounds and the music will speak for itself.
Tommy was the first artist signed to Brent Faiyaz’s ISO Supremacy — what were Tommy and the team looking to gain in signing with Brent?
There was a mutual respect and collaborative energy between the two of them from day one, so the connection just made sense. We knew we’d all win big.
What’s the key to managing an emerging star today?
Don’t let people rush or pressure you into taking steps you don’t need to, and prioritize the artist’s taste and vision.
How are you planning to keep momentum going — for the song and Tommy more broadly?
You guys are going to have to just stay tuned and keep an eye on what we do next. All I can say is it’s going to be all gas no brakes.
LONDON — Two of the United Kingdom’s leading music management companies have joined forces after ATC Management acquired a majority stake in Raw Power Management, whose clients include rock bands Bring Me The Horizon and Bullet For My Valentine.
Financial terms reveal that ATC paid £1.4 million ($1.8 million) for a 55% stake in Raw Power, which was founded in 2006 by CEO Craig Jennings, Rod Smallwood and Andy Taylor. Headquartered in London and with offices in Los Angeles, Raw Power’s other clients include The Mars Volta, The Damned, You Me At Six, Don Broco, Heartworms, Kid Kapichi, The Chisel and Refused.
Under the new partnership, Raw Power’s U.K. team, including Jennings and commercial director Don Jenkins, will relocate to ATC Management’s London headquarters. Both companies’ LA-based operations will also merge with immediate effect.
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Raw Power employs 14 staff across its U.K. and U.S. offices. The firm said there will be no job losses because of the deal.
According to a regulatory financial filing, Raw Power generated £2.3 million ($2.9 million) in revenue in the year ending Feb. 28 2023. Profit before tax was £326,000 ($412,000).
As part of the majority stake deal, ATC will loan Raw Power up to £1.3 million ($1.6 million) in additional funds to pay off historic debts. Listed among those liabilities in Companies House records is a £1.9 million ($2.4 million) loan from Phantom Music Management, the company of Iron Maiden’s long-time manager (and Raw Power co-founder) Rod Smallwood.
Since its formation in 2006, Raw Power has built itself into one of the leading rock artist management companies in Europe.
Bring Me The Horizon, who are managed by Jennings and the firm’s U.S. president, Matt Ash, won best rock/alternative act at this year’s Brit Awards and have surpassed 1 billion Spotify streams and more than 5 million equivalent album sales worldwide.
The British band’s most recent album, 2020’s Post Human: Survival Horror, topped the charts in the U.K. and peaked at No. 3 on Billboard’s Hard Rock albums chart. A sold-out U.K. and Ireland tour in January sold 140,000 tickets across 10 dates, says Raw Power.
ATC Management was founded in 1996, initially as a boutique ticketing and marketing business, before focusing on artist management. Part of the independently owned ATC Group, which also encompasses live booking agency ATC Live, merchandise company Sandbag and livestream business Driift, the management business represents more than 60 artists, including Nick Cave, The Smile, PJ Harvey, Yaeji, and Johnny Marr. ATC Live represents more than 500 acts, while Sandbag has relationships with 750 artists.
In 2021, ATC Group, which is headquartered in London and operates offices in Los Angeles and New York, listed on the U.K.’s Aquis Stock Exchange.
Commenting on the deal, Raw Power’s Jennings said the merger with ATC marked “a new era” for both companies and would turn them into a “powerhouse organization.”
“Both ATC and Raw Power value integrity, belief in the acts we look after, passion for the music and doing everything for the benefit of our artists,” said Jennings in a statement. “This feels like a massive opportunity to take our artists to a whole new level.”
“At heart, our two companies have a common purpose – to support artists and empower them to achieve their creative and commercial goals,” said Adam Driscoll, CEO, ATC Group. “By coming together and combining forces, the capacity to deliver on those goals has increased substantially.”
These days, a new Beyoncé album is generally a cause for celebration — fans pore over album covers, track listings, song lyrics and rollout plans, searching for hidden gems and rare treasures. For Cowboy Carter, her latest album released in March, one of those gems came in the form of Shaboozey, the rising country singer who had made some minor waves in his career to date and was featured on two tracks on the album, “Spaghetti” with Linda Martell” and “Sweet / Honey / Buckiin.’”
If those guest spots introduced Shaboozey to the mainstream of pop culture, it was what came next that has truly brought him to the forefront. Two weeks after the release of Cowboy Carter, the Virginia-born singer released “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” through American Dogwood/EMPIRE, a flip of J-Kwon’s 2004 song “Tipsy” that is a fun-loving, infectious romp of a song, and has quickly captured hearts, minds — and a very captive audience. This week, the song makes a historic jump on Billboard’s Hot Country Songs chart, bounding from No. 6 to No. 1 — and replacing Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” on top of the list, marking the first time ever that two Black artists have led the chart in back to back weeks since the chart became an all-encompassing genre ranking in 1958.
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The song, which will herald the artist’s next album, Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going, due out May 31, has been on such an upswing that even in the week that Taylor Swift flooded the Hot 100 with her new 31-song Tortured Poets Department album, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” was one of just two songs on the entire Hot 100 to actually rise, as it moved from No. 36 to No. 27, with a possible jump into the top five on the cards for next week, as the Swift fervor ebbs. And all that momentum helps his Range Media co-manager Jared Cotter earn the title of Billboard’s Executive of the Week.
Here, Cotter talks about how the Beyoncé look helped boost Shaboozey’s latest hit, the value of being in the right place at the right time (and being prepared for the moment when it comes) and the history-making hit that brought them here. “He will be a superstar that continues to push boundaries and make great music for years to come,” Cotter says. “This is just the beginning.”
This week, Shaboozey’s “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” reached No. 1 on Hot Country Songs, his first chart-topper. What key decision did you make to help make that happen?
A key decision was making sure we were prepared for the Beyoncé moment. We didn’t even have it locked in 100% but I wanted the team to be prepared if it happened, so we moved our original release date for the song up by three weeks. That way we were able to take advantage of truly an extremely unique opportunity with lots of heat and algorithmic love. The Beyoncé Bounce is real!
The song replace’s Beyoncé’s “Texas Hold ‘Em” at No. 1, the first time in history that two Black artists led the chart back to back. What is the significance of that for you and Shaboozey?
As Black men, we are aware and in awe of the history that we’ve made. Country is a genre that historically has been very closed, and something like this typically could never happen. It’s a positive sign that times are changing and that country listeners just want great music, no matter who it comes from. Thank you to Beyoncé and her team for knocking down that door.
Shaboozey has been buzzing for a while, but he exploded into the mainstream with two features on Beyoncé’s Cowboy Carter album. How did that come about, and how were you guys able to use that momentum to help push “A Bar Song”?
Beyoncé’ was already familiar with Boozey because her team — including her Mom, Tina Knowles — showed us a lot of love on Shaboozey’s “Let It Burn.” But primarily the Beyoncé features came about because her A&R, Ricky Lawson, happened to be at our Range Showcase Night at Winston House in Venice, Calif. Shaboozey is an incredible live performer and that night was special. It’s a testament to taking advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you because you never know who is watching.
On this week’s Hot 100, amid a flood of new Taylor Swift songs, “A Bar Song” was one of only two songs on the entire chart to actually move up, going from No. 36 to No. 27. How was the song able to do that?
It’s the perfect song. It has a tried and true interpolation in J-Kwon’s “Tipsy,” so the familiarity is there and everything about the verses and chorus is a hook. Plus, it’s fun. After also having success with Paul Russell’s hit “Lil Boo Thang” this year I truly believe that people just want to have fun again.
Shaboozey first partnered with EMPIRE in 2021, and is having this huge moment three years later. Why did the EMPIRE partnership make sense over a traditional Nashville-type deal, and how have you built his career in that period of time to lay the foundation for this type of moment now?
EMPIRE has been an incredible partner. What Ghazi, Nima [Etminan] and Tina [Davis] have built is nothing short of amazing — I don’t think they get enough credit for what they’ve done and continue to do in multiple genres. They’ve been huge supporters of Shaboozey, and have shown immense patience as he figured out his sound. Now that the timing is right, they’re throwing everything at this project with staff and resources. Their belief in him is palpable from everyone on their team. As a manager I couldn’t be happier to be in business with all of EMPIRE, including Sak Pase, Peter Kadin and Harrison Golding.
With the likes of Morgan Wallen, Zach Bryan and Bailey Zimmerman, among others, country music music has had a big mainstream boost in the past year-plus. At the same time, Range has been signing more country acts of late and investing in the genre. Did you see this uptick in country music coming, and how do capitalize on the mainstream popularity of the genre moving forward?
Yes. Range is at the forefront of this country revolution and I’m happy to add my energy. It’s been extremely valuable to lean on country music veterans at Range like Matt Graham, Jack Minihan and Shawn McSpadden as I navigate a new genre as a manager. Our staff in the newly-opened Nashville office is second to none, and we’ll continue to capitalize on the uptick with passion, expertise, and boots on the ground.
What’s next for Shaboozey?
More great music and great shows coming to a city near you. He will be a superstar that continues to push boundaries and make great music for years to come. This is just the beginning.
Last Week’s Executive: Sabrina Carpenter’s Manager Janelle Lopez Genzink
As a former executive at music companies in Singapore, Hong Kong, New York and Los Angeles, Wendy Ong certainly has the globe-trotting credentials to help a roster of music artists including Lana Del Rey, Ellie Goulding and Noah Cyrus navigate an increasingly global business. But Ong charted the flight path she took to her current role as global co-president/chief marketing officer of the artist management and publishing company TaP Music largely on her own because, she says, mentors for an Asian American/Pacific Islander (AAPI) music executive were virtually nonexistent then.
As a result, Ong — who was raised in Malaysia and Singapore and worked at BMG, Arista, RCA, the Metropolitan Opera, EMI, Capitol, Interscope and Roc Nation — says she makes it a priority to be one herself, particularly for Asians and Asian Americans. Her mentorship has been aided by her participation in Gold House — a community of Asian Pacific entrepreneurs, creatives and other leaders — after, she says, she was invited to one of the organization’s dinners “by accident.” She adds that when opportunity presents itself, “it depends on what you do with it.”
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Ong sat down with Billboard to discuss the continued importance of music festivals, the work of Gold House and the promise of artificial intelligence (AI), among other topics.
Lana Del Rey returned to Coachella this year as a headliner. Do festival bookings still move the needle?
When you’re strategic about it, it allows you to make getting into smaller markets cost-effective. It’s hard to do proper global touring these days, and even in the U.S., festivals allow an artist to complement their overall touring strategy. From the TaP perspective, it’s still a very key component, especially for developing artists. It’s the same reason that collaborations work because it’s crossing over to other artists’ audiences. And not just for young people. I’m supposed to be the jaded music executive, but I’m not. The Justice set [at Coachella] blew me away. I actually went and checked immediately [to see if they’re touring] because I wanted to see it again.
Prior to Coachella, what other major wins has TaP scored in the past 12 months?
Ellie [Goulding] is one of the most multifaceted artists anywhere. She had a No. 1 single and album last year [with “Miracle” featuring Calvin Harris and fifth full-length Higher Than Heaven] in the same week in the U.K. That was stunning. And Caroline Polachek’s album [Desire, I Want To Turn Into You, which debuted at No. 9 on Billboard’s Top Album Sales chart]. I love that Caroline and Mookie Singerman, who manages her, have been together since the beginning of [Polachek’s former band] Chairlift. There’s something to be said for loyalty. Sometimes when an artist gets bigger, they feel they need to switch up their teams. They are the CEO of their own company, so they need to make tough calls sometimes. But it’s nice to see those that remain loyal.
After Ong spearheaded a Fifty Shades of Grey classical compilation at EMI, she says author E L James’ lawyer sent her a cease-and-desist notice. “I flew to London,” she says, and successfully proposed releasing Fifty Shades of Grey: The Classical Album, which put her on the radar of radio departments at Capitol when programmers called to say, “ ‘We heard you released a BDSM classical album.’ ”
Yasara Gunawardena
How are label layoffs affecting management?
Significantly. I always look to partner with our major labels in the best possible way, and when things are up in the air, it makes it very challenging to understand how much support we’re going to have. The company that [TaP co-CEOs] Ben [Mawson] and Ed [Millett] have built is very much on the ethos of self-sufficiency. Going back to Lana, at the beginning of her career, they had a lot of pushback. She signed to Universal Germany because nobody believed in her. And that was and still is today a big takeaway for how we function as a company. We try to do as much for our artists as we can without overly relying on third parties, whether it’s a label, a brand, a social [platform] or a [digital service provider]. We need that agency to be able to make a difference.
What does that entail today?
All anybody wants to talk about right now is superfans. And it’s such a wake-up call. Fans want that close, direct relationship with the artist, and we were all slow in realizing that we need to take control of this relationship. We, as a management company, have made big strides in CRM [customer relationship management]. We have someone employed specifically at our company to do CRM. We’re platform agnostic, whether that’s OpenStage or Community or Laylo. What is important for us is to be able to take back the data. I say “data,” but that’s the fans. Artists need to be able to talk to their fans directly, and I think we’re leading the charge on the management side. It’s a testament to how [much] we value our artists’ fans.
Ong’s great-grandmother, with whom she lived in Malaysia while attending preschool, gave her this pendant.
Yasara Gunawardena
You’ve talked about not having a mentor in the industry. When you switched to management, was it even more apparent?
It was glaring. I wish that wasn’t my answer, by the way. I wish I could say that, “Oh, yeah. So-and-so really lifted me up and helped me out so much.” Younger people, whether it’s on social media or in real life, often reach out to me, and I do my best to play whatever small part I can because I think that my path may have been a little less rocky if I had more guidance early in my career. And the very reason I had no mentors is because there weren’t enough people that looked like me when I was coming up in the industry. Now there’s K-pop, so that has changed things in the best possible way.
How does Gold House encourage more mentorship and visibility of the AAPI community in music?
With Gold House, I think it’s the first time that I became a part of something greater for the AAPI community. It makes it easier to give back and to spotlight minority communities like ours. I’m also very proud to be part of the Gold House Music Accelerator program. The spotlight K-pop has put on the AAPI community is wonderful, but being a judge on the Gold House Music Accelerator program helps to shine a light on other types of artists, whether it’s indie-rock or R&B.
Why has K-pop become an umbrella term in the United States for all Asian music right now?
Because we’re dealing with the greater media that is not Asian, it eclipses all these other interesting artists and music that’s coming out from countries like Indonesia and the Philippines and Taiwan. Nowhere else in the world would you put South Asians, Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, Filipinos, Indonesians all under one umbrella. It makes no sense outside of America. We have to do it in this country because we’re all minorities and we can have a bigger voice if we band together. It’s a challenge, though, because K-pop has changed so much of what we think pop music looks like. So now that we have a sliver of an opening, I hope that we get to demonstrate through Gold House efforts, for example, other types of music made by Asians.
A sweatshirt embroidered with the face of Ong’s recently deceased dog, Patches, whom she rescued 16 years ago on the island of Tobago and “was my rock through and through.”
Yasara Gunawardena
What genre would you like to see gain prominence?
I’m so excited about South Asian Desi music. It is so much fun and joy and rhythm and bass. That joyousness is similar to how I view a lot of Latin music. It’s inevitable that a Desi artist is going to break through, and I’m excited for that to find its way into America.
TaP has its publishing, philanthropic, fashion and sports divisions, but is there another sector you would love to see the company tackle in the future?
I am very excited and a huge advocate for all the positive changes that AI can bring. But I also have that personality of an early adopter. I think that in two years’ time the music industry is going to look extremely different — maybe more so on the publishing side because that’s where it’s the most scary. When things are challenging, that is when opportunity comes. It’s whether we can find a way to leverage it.
Outside of new music, what are you looking forward to this year?
The Gold Music Alliance. It was really encouraging when [the organization] had the chance to do the event around the Grammys this year. It was the first experience for me as a member of the Recording Academy to realize that there was interest in growing the AAPI membership base. Because I don’t think we’re very represented.
Yasara Gunawardena
Do you think that will change with this year’s nominations?
In 2023, two AAPI trustees were elected to the academy’s national board of trustees. I think that is a sign that we are getting more representation. And I want to use my platform to encourage more AAPIs to become members of the Recording Academy. I know K-pop dominates in terms of consumption, but recognition is what I’m speaking about. I would be really excited to see a non-fan-voted award with K-pop. We should be represented not just in Billboard sales charts, but also in critical acclaim. Once again, I hope that K-pop forges the path for other types of Asian music.
The academy added a best African music performance category this year. Would you like to see a similar addition for K-pop?
How amazing would that be, but it’s a double-edged sword. Like, why isn’t K-pop just part of pop? It’s [like asking] why is there a best actor and a best actress at the Oscars? Sometimes I think it’s necessary because we can’t [bestow] the right amount of acclaim and recognition by putting everyone in the same bucket. We’ll see more changes due to AI than we’ll see anything else. I wish technological advances could help advance this type of conversation — maybe that’s the challenge.
This article originally appeared in the April 27, 2024 issue of Billboard.
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