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Julie Greenwald was in Los Angeles, on the set of the video shoot for Bruno Mars and Lady Gaga‘s “Die With a Smile,” when she found out her life was about to look very different. “All of a sudden, I get told, ‘Hey, we’re gonna change your role,’” she recalled. “It was wild. I’ve been on this run for 35 years. But listen: shit happens. And there’s a lot of stuff that’s not in your control, especially when you work for someone else.”
Greenwald was one of several high-ranking veterans who exited Atlantic Music Group last year during a broader restructuring at both Atlantic and its parent company, Warner Music Group. She spoke about the experience briefly Tuesday night (April 1) during a conversation with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe at NYU’s Clive Davis Institute, where she is serving as the program’s Executive In Residence this month.
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The post-Atlantic period has “been a huge pivot for me,” Greenwald said. “I went out on a high in terms of setting up my records. But there’s nothing more brutal than, all of a sudden, the consolidation.”
The talk at the Clive Davis Institute marked some of Greenwald’s first comments since splitting from her old gig, and a rare chance to see a music industry luminary speak off the cuff — about Atlantic’s decision to drop Chappell Roan in 2020, her frustration with data-driven A&R, and the challenge of working with young artist managers who rarely understand the music business.
Lowe steered the conversation to Roan almost by accident; he appeared not to know that Atlantic had initially signed the star back in 2015. The singer released her debut EP through the label in 2017, and followed it with “Pink Pony Club” in April 2020, just as COVID-19 was tearing through the U.S. “The pandemic was the craziest time to be running a record company,” Greenwald said.
Labels were forced to try to sign artists over Zoom, which she called “disgusting” — “I never signed an act [before] if we didn’t break bread.” And amid fears that Covid-19 would have a lasting negative impact on the labels’ bottom line, Greenwald was instructed to “trim down the record company.”
Although she needed to cut costs, she was reluctant to fire staff during the pandemic. Instead, she went to her A&R department with a question: “Are there [artists] that we no longer should be in business with?” “Let’s make some tough decisions,” she remembered saying. “Because I always believed that if we couldn’t stand and believe in and back you 1,000%, we shouldn’t hold people just to hold people.”
“Pink Pony Club” wasn’t taking off at the time, and Roan was among the acts that Atlantic dropped. She was subsequently picked up by Island Records and became one of the breakout stars of 2024, winning best new artist at the Grammy Awards in February. (This trajectory is more common than labels would like: Mars, for example, was dropped by Motown before he signed to Atlantic.)
What Greenwald called the “stand and believe” impulse has largely vanished from the major labels. “The last two years of my Atlantic run, I kept yelling at my A&R staff,” she said cheerfully. She described them as “under siege by data … Everybody wants to hedge,” Greenwald added. “Nobody wants to just find something with one stream that’s brand spanking new and say, ‘I believe this is going to be somebody amazing.’”
She contrasted this approach with the behavior of young managers. Even though — or perhaps because — most of them have next to no experience in the music industry, Greenwald said, they find artists they like, long before their listening data is showing signs of exponential growth. Then they do something daring: “Call them up and say, ‘I believe.’”
By the time those managers are across the table from Greenwald, their risky bet is about to pay off. “I’m sitting in a room talking to somebody who has no experience, and they’re going to decide whether or not this artist signs [to] Atlantic or RCA,” she continued. “I’m looking at my A&R people going, ‘How did this woman who was a telemarketer from Kentucky get to that act before you?’”
While Greenwald admired managers’ willingness to throw caution to the winds and commit fully to artists they love, she was less enamored with some of the management contracts she saw young acts signing. “I had to clean up a million contracts for some of my artists,” she said. “I was just paying advances to managers to get them out of these artists’ lives with the artists’ future money.”
“It’s easy to say the label is the big bad guy,” she added later. “I always used to say, when I write my book, it’s going to be [called] ‘Why managers messed up the industry.’”
Major labels currently face a tough climate. That’s not because of TikTok’s outsized role in music discovery, or the threat of artificial intelligence, according to Greenwald. “People are not growing up anymore going, ‘I want to sign to Atlantic or Def Jam or Columbia or Interscope,’” she explained, hitting her palm for emphasis. “People are saying, ‘I want to make this shit on my own and I want to be independent.’”
Now that Greenwald has some free time — a first after more than three decades in the music business — she has been asking herself, “What kind of company do I want to build now?”
“To cut through and have a career, I think it’s about collaboration and having the right team,” she added. “Do you need 500 million people to do it? Not anymore.”
New York University (NYU) and Sony Corporation have announced the launch of a new institute at the school through which students will have access to Sony audio technology, be given real-world opportunities and more.
Formally dubbed the Sony Audio Institute for Music Business and Technology, the institute will be based within NYU’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development, whose leadership and faculty co-created it alongside Sony’s personal entertainment business. Through the partnership, students enrolled in Steinhardt’s music business and music technology degree programs will have access to Sony audio technology, including 360 Reality Audio and the 360 Virtual Mixing Environment — both of which will be outfitted in the newly-named Sony Audio Institute Studio at NYU’s Brooklyn campus.
NYU’s Music and Audio Research Lab (MARL) will also receive input from Sony researchers and engineers in conducting its research on music and audio technologies. Current areas of focus at MARL include music and auditory perception and cognition; machine listening and music information retrieval; spatial and immersive audio; and music in the health and rehabilitation sciences.
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The institute will additionally offer workshops, internships and special events to students, while NYU venues “will present student-driven programming that bridges the gap between academic learning and real-world industry experiences,” offering students “a platform for hands-on innovation and collaboration,” according to a press release.
Through the institute, NYU will also establish a scholarship program to assist undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students at NYU Steinhardt “who demonstrate financial need and academic merit with a preference for students who have an interest in pursuing research or careers in the audio industry,” the release adds.
The institute, which has been established for an initial 10-year term, is set to open this spring, with NYU Steinhardt clinical professor and music industry veteran Larry S. Miller serving as inaugural director. Miller will also continue serving as the director of the music business program at NYU Steinhardt until fall 2025.
“It is an honor to establish this collaboration with New York University, one of the world’s premier music schools, renowned for its long-standing legacy of producing some of the audio industry’s top talent,” said Kimio Maki, president/CEO at Sony Corporation, in a statement. “Through this collaboration, we look forward to inspiring creativity for the next generation of music creators and witness how their artistry will influence the music industry for years to come.”
NYU president Linda G. Mills added, “We are excited and grateful that Sony has chosen NYU Steinhardt to collaborate on this important initiative, which will create new opportunities for our amazingly talented students through scholarships, internships, research fellowships, and other unrivaled experiences. This forward-looking initiative will not only create new opportunities for creative expression, it will give our students a competitive advantage in a rapidly changing industry. I’d like to thank the team at Sony and everyone at NYU who worked tirelessly to make this dream a reality.”
Lauren Davis, a veteran music business attorney, has been promoted to associate chair of New York University’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music.
Davis joined the institute’s full-time faculty in 2006, teaching courses on the legal and business aspects of the music industry, including intellectual property law. She has also lectured on social entrepreneurship and advancing equity and inclusion in music. As the director of professional development at CDI, she oversees the professional planning and Senior Year Professional Development courses for graduating students.
With 33 years of experience as a music and entertainment attorney, Davis has represented high-profile recording artists, songwriters, producers, publishers, and music companies. She has also served as the faculty senator on NYU’s Faculty Council for six years, advocating for faculty interests.
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Nick Sansano, chair of the Clive Davis Institute, praised Davis for her unwavering support and inspiration to students since the institute’s inception.
“Her music business and legal expertise, and her academic focus on policy, rights advocacy, and gender equity in the music industry has influenced and directed the professional lives of so many of our students and alumni,” he said. “Her willingness to take on the role of Associate Chair, deepening her contribution to the development of our curriculum and mission, is a huge win for our program.”
Davis expressed her excitement about her new role, stating it has been a privilege to teach and prepare future industry leaders over the past 18 years, adding that she’s “excited to roll up my sleeves, work with Nick Sansano as chair, and help steer the Clive Davis Institute’s growth and expansion in the years ahead.”
Named after the iconic music executive, the program offers a distinctive BFA that blends business, creative and intellectual exploration as part of NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts. The CDI marked its 20th anniversary earlier this year and is a fixture in Billboard‘s annual list of top music business schools.

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Kasseem Dean Jr. learned the news of a lifetime during the holiday season after finding out that he was accepted to New York University on his 18th birthday. Helping Kasseem Dean Jr. celebrate the achievement was his dad Swizz Beatz, mom Mashonda, and stepmother Alicia Keys.
Swizz Beatz got deep into his proud papa bag and shared a series of videos on Instagram with his entire family surprising Kasseem Dean Jr. with the big news. With the family all donning NYU hoodies, Dean is seen in the video below walking in to the surprise and definitely enjoyed the moment as any other person would.
“This is what we all do it for in real life. Today we celebrate the 18th Bday of Kasseem JR. We also celebrated him going to NYU. The amazing part was he didn’t know he was accepted we saved the news for his Bday. Blessings to all the parents going hard for the future aka the Kids,” Swizz Beatz wrote in the caption.
Mashonda also shared images on her Instagram page praising her son for reaching his birthday milestone and achieving his collegiate goals.
“Keeping the news about NYU under wraps was quite a challenge; we wanted to surprise you on your birthday , surrounded by family. Your life is a profound blessing to all of us. Now, it’s GO TIME, time to embark on this new journey. Know that I will always be here by your side, my son. Thank you to my incredible co-parents HAPPY BIRTHDAY, she wrote.
Alicia Keys also got in on the IG love and offered her words of encouragement to her stepson.
“My amazing young king @yayachronicles !! You are totally unstoppable!! I’m so excited about every moment this year is going to bring!! This is just the beginning of things you can’t even imagine! Keep working hard and bringing that light and gratitude, everywhere you go!!!! The blessings of tomorrow will be greater than we can ever imagine today!!!
I love you Kassy!! Always your Umi!!!” Keys said.
Congratulations to Kasseem Dean Jr. and the entire family.
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Photo: Getty
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Source: Anadolu / Getty
Student-led protests on college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza have led to increased tensions with administrators and arrests.
Protests supporting the Palestinian people in the Gaza region of Israel during the nation’s conflict with the Hamas terror organization on college campuses such as Columbia University in New York City have become highly intense within the last few days. The school is the home of the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment,” erected last week by student protesters. The protests have riled up those for the Palestinians and those supporting Israel, leading Columbia President Dr. Minouche Shafik to initiate hybrid classes for the rest of the semester, which began Monday (April 22).
“Over the past days, there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus,” she wrote in a statement, calling for a “reset” due to the Passover holiday and citing the concerns of Jewish students who said that they were being intimidated by the pro-Palestinian protesters and were hit with antisemitic threats. “Antisemitic language, like any other language that is used to hurt and frighten people, is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken,” Shafik continued. The Columbia Students for Justice in Palestine group issued their statement, saying that they “firmly reject any form of hate or bigotry” and their criticisms are of Israel’s government.
Tensions at the encampment hit a fever pitch over the weekend as the New York Police Department arrested close to 100 protesters at the encampment, with dozens of students at Columbia and Barnard being suspended and barred from school housing including Isra Hirsi, the daughter of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Barnard has since offered an olive branch to those suspended, offering to lift them for students, acknowledging many had “not previously engaged in misconduct.” Republican federal lawmakers and Jewish groups, however, are in opposition to these moves and are calling for stricter punishment and protection of Jewish students.
The spirit of the protests has spread to other colleges – New York University and Yale University also saw encampments go up in solidarity with those at Columbia and Barnard. To date, there are encampments of protesters supporting the Palestinian people at 15 university campuses nationwide. Faculty members at New York University and Yale were arrested after police said they denied requests to leave. There is also a growing shift in public opinion, as polls are showing most Americans disapprove of Israel’s handling of the war that began after Oct. 7, 2023.
Songwriter Madison Love, film director Ang Lee and actor Corey Stoll will be honored by New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts on Monday, April 8 at Cipriani South Street in New York City. Love, 28, is the first alumnus of the NYU Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at Tisch to be honored […]
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