In our latest roundup, we present eight rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
This week's entrants will also find their faces in our latest mag. Thankfully, they had an extra hour to lament this mortifying experience.
Arjun Mehta
Founder & CEO, Moment House
Since Mehta co-founded Moment House in 2019 as a student at
USC's
Iovine and Young Academy (the music-biz program endowed by
Jimmy Iovine and
Dr. Dre), the live-media platform has hosted ticketed digital experiences—“moments”—for
Halsey,
Tame Impala,
Bryson Tiller,
KAYTRANADA and
Kygo. Among Mehta’s own favorite moments have been collabs with
Isaiah Rashad and
TDE’s
Top Dawg. He’s currently focused on expanding the Moment House team. Mehta does not eat meat. He might consider using meat as a diversion, however, when trying to avoid us.
Riley Folsom
Talent Agent, Music Crossover, UTA
Among the deals Folsom's helped close:
Bebe Rexha’s feature acting debut (in the upcoming film
Queenpins) and
Spencer Sutherland’s starring role in
Netflix’s
Afterlife of the Party, for which he’ll also perform three original songs. She and her colleagues are also developing the first LQBTQ+ podcast in the Latin market—for
Joy Huerta (of
Jesse & Joy)—in addition to projects for
Demi Lovato and other UTA clients. And she’s among the roughly .17% of people in the world with red hair and blue eyes. We have red eyes, at least.
Sarah Patellos
Lead, Strategic Music Programs, Spotify
In 2020 Patellos had the pleasure of seeing all eight
Grammy Best New Artist nominees—including
Billie Eilish,
Lil Nas X,
Lizzo and
ROSALÍA—perform at Spotify’s BNA event. This year’s highlights have included the global campaign promoting
Today’s Top Hits and the launch of
Frequency, the streamery’s celebration of Black culture. Most recently, Patellos has been overseeing Spotify’s
Greenroom social-audio app and connecting the dots between Spotify’s music and podcast businesses. A former competitive dancer, Patellos was the captain of
USC’s Song Girls.
We have two left feet.
Christine Osazuwa
Strategy Director, Pollen; Founder, Measure of Music
London-based Osazuwa had the rare opportunity to attend both the Swedish
Grammys and a
Swedish Idol finale during her years working in Stockholm. As of this month, she’s curating global live-music experiences for Pollen Presents, with upcoming performances by
Justin Bieber and
J Balvin. She’s also working on the 2022 edition of her
Measure of Music conference, a crash course in music and data. As an undergrad, this MBA recipient made a documentary about the music industry and social media called “Always Wanting More.” With us, folks generally want less.
Noreen Prunier
Head of A&R, ATG
One of Prunier’s fondest—and most bittersweet—memories is of her former boss, songwriter/producer
Busbee, posthumously winning
CMA’s Album of the Year with
Maren Morris for 2019’s
GIRL, which he was working on when she first joined him. Having just started at ATG, she’s been hosting monthly gatherings for songwriters of all stripes to play songs for each other, meet potential collaborators, gain support from peers and feel part of a community. Prunier plays a lot of tennis and is learning to surf. Which reminds us, has anyone seen our inhaler?
Chukwudi Obi Senior Manager, Hallwood Media
Obi began his career at 15 connecting with hip-hop artists on
Twitter. Fast forward to January 2021, when
Pop Smoke’s double-platinum “What You Know Bout Love”—produced single-handedly by Obi client
IAmTash—landed in the Top 10 and hit #1 on Rhythm charts. Obi producer
Donn Robb, meanwhile, scored five cuts on
The Kid LAROI’s platinum #1
F*ck Love. Obi is now building his roster, which also includes
Super Miles (
Wale,
Tory Lanez). A fan of jogging, Obi logs two miles every morning.
We smoke two joints in the morning.
Chris Corallo
Head of Digital Marketing, Homemade Projects
The latest addition to Homemade Projects, Corallo has had a hand in the success of
COIN’s “Chapstick,”
Surfaces’ “Come With Me” and
WestsideJhitt’s “Round Town.” He’s also helped promote Trippie Redd’s “Miss the Rage” and “Holy Smokes” and
Internet Money’s “His & Hers” on
TikTok (
Business Insider named Corallo one of “23 power players using TikTok to shape the music industry in 2021”). A humble soul, Corallo nonetheless notes that he’s “a pretty good cook.” We make good toast (if the toaster’s plugged in and not turned up too high).
Kristin Somin
Director of Communications, The Oriel
Somin will always cherish her time as
Doja Cat’s publicist at
RCA, where she played a key role in the star’s development. Today at the communications firm The Oriel, Somin is dedicated to a roster of clients like
iann dior—who, thanks to her, booked his first
NY Fashion Week—
Flo Milli,
Electric Feel (
Post Malone, dior,
24kGoldn) and
Nice Life (
Lizzo). A true-crime-doc aficionada, Somin was fully prepared for a career in criminal law if music didn’t work out. This was the only job
we could get.
