In our latest Noisemakers roundup, we present a fresh batch of rising professionals from different areas of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good. This edition's entrants will also find their faces in our recent mag. Lucky for them, this feature—and $1.25—will get them a commemorative fun-sized chocolate bar at participating
Erewhon locations.
Sydney Lopes
Head of Hip-Hop & R&B, Artist and Label Partnerships,
Spotify
The recently promoted Lopes produced and presented Spotify’s first-ever
Are & Be House at last summer’s
Essence Fest in New Orleans. The House—which served as a tribute to Black women in R&B and podcasting—boasted performances by
Summer Walker and
Ari Lennox and a live taping with
Kamala Harris to
promote the DSP’s flagship R&B playlist. Lopes also played a role in
Khalid’s rise to #1 artist on the platform globally last year. She’s currently focused on amplifying content that broadens the Black experience across hip-hop, R&B, Caribbean and gospel.
Mike Hamilton
Senior Director of Commerce,
Epic Records
The former
Atlantic streaming exec has been key to some memorable hip-hop runs recently. In his previous post, he oversaw the streaming strategy for
Cardi B’s "Bodak Yellow” and
Invasion of Privacy. At
Epic, he’s been instrumental to
Travis Scott’s streak of #1 single debuts and was on duty for
21 Savage’s latest chart-topper,
Savage Mode II. He's pumped at the moment about rising R&B star Giveon. A singer in his own right, Hamilton is keeping the conversation going about leveling the playing field for Black professionals in the biz.
Missy Roberts
Senior Director of A&R,
UMPG Nashville
Being a member of illustrious singer/songwriter
Brandi Carlile’s team is a dream come true for Roberts, who’s a lifelong country fan. The diverse group of creators she works with includes
Derrick Southerland and
Sam Ellis, who co-wrote
Ingrid Andress’ #1 hit, “More Hearts Than Mine.” Pre-pandemic, Roberts was able to watch Andress perform the track at her
Opry debut, standing alongside the co-writers while the crowd gave them a standing ovation. The A&R exec's obsession with camo makes for a distinctive WFH look.
Jason Johnson
VP, Marketing & Brand Strategy,
Audiomack
Constantly working on new content for the ever-expanding streaming site, Johnson is now helping bring the world to Africa. Audiomack, which recently opened an office in Nigeria, has become the #1 free app on
Apple and
Google’s app stores. Johnson is focused on
Hometown Heroes Nigeria digital concert, including the platform’s new artist-development program,
#UpNow. Among the events Johnson has contributed to are
Roddy Ricch’s
Trap Symphony Live performance, which aligned with the release of his debut album. As an avid early-stage investor, Johnson knows what it takes to kick-start a campaign.
Jonathan Briggs
VP of Commerce & Streaming Strategy,
Island Records
Back when concerts happened, Briggs, along with the rest of the Island team, celebrated
Shawn Mendes’ ascent to global superstardom at his 2019
Barclays Center show. Briggs was busy over the summer with bright young streaming acts
BANNERS and
Baby Rose, along with new projects from vets
The Killers and
Toni Braxton. He was a stan before stanning was a thing—he loves U.K. pop group
Steps and is a chart whiz when it comes to hits from the ’80s, especially
Stock Aitken Waterman jams. Did we just get Rickrolled?
Trevor Patterson
Co-Founder, BoyMeetSpace; Manager,
jetsonmade
Over the last two years, Patterson’s client jetsonmade has emerged as one of hip-hop’s elite producers, the creative force behind
DaBaby’s “Suge” and “BOP,”
Playboi Carti’s “@Meh” and most recently,
Jack Harlow’s breakthrough hit, “What’s Poppin,” which reached #2 on the Hot 100. Patterson is also working on breaking the first artist on his
BoyMeetSpace label, Carolina rap prodigy
18veno.
Patterson is nearly undefeated against haters on
Twitter and at
Super Smash Bros—and only
24kGoldn stands a chance against his King Dedede dominance on
Nintendo Switch.
Christina Koblick
Manager/A&R,
Nonstop Management
Nonstop OG Koblick has in fact been on the team since it was a two-person operation. Along with super-producer
J Kash, the company now reps
Michael Pollack—who has credits on the last two
Maroon 5 singles and three co-writes on
Katy Perry’s
Smile—plus alt songwriter
Nick Long (
Machine Gun Kelly) and “You Wrote Me First” co-writer
Ryann. Koblick is involved in the creative process of the company’s stable of writers from the get-go, and she now has even more on her plate with J Kash’s new label,
Sandlot Records.
Matt MacFarlane
Senior Director of A&R,
APG
With
24kGoldn and
Taz Taylor among the hit writers MacFarlane oversees at APG, he’s been loving his daily review of the charts over the last few months—at press time, “Mood” and “Lemonade” hold #1 and #2, respectively, on
Spotify’s streaming charts. And MacFarlane and the
Internet Money team are already making progress on the next IM album. He’s currently getting the upcoming
Kevin Gates project and
The Fast and the Furious (F9) soundtrack across the finish line. A drummer since he was eight, Matt is always down for some beats.
