In our latest roundup, we present a group of rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
Lucky for them, this feature—and $37,000—will get them a commemorative gold medal from the Tokyo
Olympic games... maybe.
Corey Calder
SVP, Marketing, APG
Calder was on the team that launched
Beats Music in 2014 and rebranded it as
Apple Music in 2015 (after Apple dropped a cool $3.2b on Beats). Since joining APG last year, he’s overseen the marketing of emerging talent like
Cico P—whose mixtape
NawfJaxx just hit #10 on
Spotify’s Top U.S. Album Debut chart—
Soldier Kidd and
Lexi Jayde (not to mention veteran act
Flo Rida). Calder’s also got mad gift-wrapping skills, the result of cutthroat family holiday competition. We wrap blunts, which makes things pretty festive around here
.
Jay Schumer
SVP/Co-Head of Marketing, Columbia
Spearheading the campaign for
AC/DC’s 2020 album
Power Up, Schumer enjoyed the surreal experience of pitching ideas to childhood hero
Angus Young. These days he’s working on projects by
Polo G and
Tyler, The Creator—who both scored #1s in a span of three weeks—
Cochise,
SSGKobe,
347aidan,
Aries,
yvngxchris,
Kim Dracula and more. The marketing of
John Mayer’s #2
Sob Rock, meanwhile, is earning props for its cheeky nostalgia. Schumer can also solve a
Rubik’s Cube in less than two minutes. We’ve been trying to solve ours since 1986.
Forrest Lipton
Marketing Director, Interscope
Lipton was stoked to project manage
Benny Blanco and
Justin Bieber’s platinum single, “Lonely”—recipient of 1.4b streams (and counting). It hit #1 at Top 40 radio,
Spotify global,
iTunes’ Top Songs chart and
Shazam’s Top 200 U.S. list. She's lately been focused on
Grammy-winning producer/artist
Pi’erre Bourne’s
The Life of Pi’erre 5, which features artists like
Lil Uzi Vert and
Playboi Carti and a cover-art collab with
Takashi Murakami. A classically trained pianist, Lipton has been hitting all the right notes. We’ve been hitting something else entirely.
Chris Rea
Director of Commercial Marketing, Virgin Music Label and Artist Services
Working with labels
ATO and
Because Music and artists
E-40 and
Zeds Dead, among others, Rea's proud of Virgin's role in sustaining independent music. New endeavors span the commemoration of
Sun Records’ 70th anniversary via
Primary Wave/
Gaither Group, domestic K-pop domination with
SM Entertainment (
SuperM,
NCT,
NCT 127), expansion into regional Mexican music (
Grupo Diez 4tro) and the advancement of
King Gizzard and
Lizard Wizard’s new label,
KGLW. Rea can frequently be found rocking out while running trails. We’re learning to walk and chew gum.
Nancy Liu VP, Marketing & Label Relations, 740 Project
Former
Capitol exec Liu still works with some of the label’s luminaries after her transition to 740, directing digital marketing for
Lil Baby &
Lil Durk’s #1
The Voice of the Heroes and
Migos’
Culture III, among others. She even donned a
Quavo mascot head during
Quavo Huncho release week. Liu’s also collaborating with L.A. rapper
Blxst and
HBO for their new series
The Hype, co-produced by
Offset, among others. Notably, she hasn’t eaten red meat in 14 years. Folks have been known to avoid
us by tossing red meat into our path and running away.
Carlos Cuadros
Director, Digital Marketing, RCA
Cuadros has thrown back beers and BBQ with
Dave Grohl, hung with heroes
Ghostface Killah and
Raekwon and once got a call from industry legend
Clive Davis. Today he’s doing digital for
Doja Cat’s #2
Planet Her—which had the biggest opening day for an album by a female rapper in
Spotify history—and the forthcoming full-length from
Khalid, whose “New Normal” premiered during
Richard Branson’s 7/11 spaceflight. Cuadros is a 12-year choir kid who eventually made it to
Carnegie Hall. We made it to the
Carnegie Deli several times.
Stevie Escoto
Managing Director, Girlilla Marketing
This digital doyenne runs point on the social strategy of numerous country-music faves, including
Darius Rucker, who had a viral moment via his
Ric Flair TikTok tribute, complete with the celebrated wrestler’s trademark Nature Boy robe and “Whoo!” Escoto also oversees
Maddie & Tae’s
YouTube vlogs, which deliver everything from makeup challenges to music-video reactions to couples Q&As. She is a self-described “endless pit of sports stats, news and trivia who is constantly disappointed by the
Chicago Bears and
USC Trojans.” We’re still not over the double doink either.
Jeremy Lowe
Director, Marketing and Talent Partnerships, dick clark productions
In 2017 Lowe participated in the U.S. television performance debut of
BTS on the
American Music Awards. In 2020, he helped propel the show to #2 in
Nielsen’s year-end social-content ratings for TV specials, with 33m+ interactions, and served as project manager for the
YouTube Streamy Awards, which in the 48 hours following its premiere saw a 50% YOY increase in views. In his “free time,” Lowe produces the
#BackyardSessions, a concert series showcasing artists with roots in L.A. We’re consigned to the backyard pretty much everywhere we go.
Maxim Karlik
Agent, Music Crossover, UTA
In 2019 Karlik helped deliver
Lauryn Hill’s first release in six years, “Guarding the Gates,” for
Queen & Slim. He’s also had a hand in producer
Harvey Mason Jr.’s
Emmy noms for
Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist; projects for
Issa Rae’s music-supervision company and supe
Brienne Rose (Emmy-nominated for
Russian Doll); and signing
Grammy-winning producer
Marius de Vries (
La La Land) and
White Horse Pictures (Emmy nominee
The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart); and
much more. Improbably, Karlik binged 10 seasons of
Survivor while we were writing this.
