Tuesday, September 21, 2021
In our latest roundup, we present eight rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
Lucky for them, this feature—and $2m—will get them a commemorative NFT.
Jessica Kelm Núñez
VP of Digital Marketing, Artist Partner Group
After four years, Núñez is still pinching herself to make sure working under APG CEO
Mike Caren and EVP
Elyse Rogers isn’t just a dream. She joined the company as Senior Director of Pop Marketing, collaborating with artists like
Charlie Puth,
Ava Max and
Alec Benjamin, but last year was upped to VP. She’s thrilled to be playing an executive role in nurturing the newly independent enterprise’s emerging creators. Also a textile artist, Núñez uses fabric and fiber to express herself creatively.
We’re still learning how to tie our shoes.
George Clark III
Director, Marketing and A&R, RCA
Among Clark’s claims to fame: identifying a sample whose source
Madlib couldn’t recall, which helped clear a record for 2019’s
Bandana, the producer’s second album with rapper
Freddie Gibbs. Clark co-produced
Nebu Kiniza’s “Patience,” featuring
Young Nudy, for this year’s
Back2Lyfe EP
, his first official RCA-related production credit. Up next: new albums from
Flo Milli and
Maxo Kream, plus projects with
Nardo Wick,
YungManny,
Gashi and
Healy. When he was in high school, Clark designed
Miguel’s first custom
MySpace page. Alas, we’d already been banned from the platform by then.
Kat MacLean-Daley
Director, Music Sampling and Business Development, UMPG
MacLean-Daley contributed to music history when she cleared the
Nine Inch Nails sample anchoring
Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road,” which set the record for longest-running #1 (19 weeks). In 2019, she had the pleasure of seeing
Galantis debut “Faith,” the first time she’d witnessed a performance of a song she’d cleared. In 2021, she made sure the interpolations on
Drake’s
Certified Lover Boy and
Kanye West’s
Donda (plus work by
Doja Cat and
Megan Thee Stallion) were kosher. By all accounts, MacLean-Daley is an excellent cook. We wouldn’t know.
Jaime Olaez
Manager, Digital Marketing, YM&U
Olaez once collaborated on skits with
Christina Applegate,
Kristin Bell,
Kathryn Hahn and
Mila Kunis to promote the film
Bad Moms, a heady experience for this self-described class clown. Since landing at YM&U in 2020, he’s all about
Steve Aoki, helping the EDM superstar grow his
TikTok fanbase to 1.5m and his
Instagram constituency by 600k, among countless other digital-marketing feats. Olaez is an entrepreneur, too, co-head of a silent-disco/events company. We couldn’t get past the velvet rope, which was just as well—it sounded pretty dead in there.
Chelsea Fodero
Artist Manager, SB Projects
Longtime NYC resident Fodero was in an “Empire State of Mind” when she assisted
Alicia Keys on a Times Square concert takeover supporting 2016’s
HERE, which transpired before the same steps seen in Keys’ music video with
Jay-Z, who was a surprise guest. “There’s no greater feeling than the energy of a live show,” she says. Today Fodero’s managing 2021
Grammy Producer of the Year
Andrew Watt (
Justin Bieber,
Dua Lipa,
Elton John). She’s visited five continents and 47 U.S. states, mostly on tour. Wonder why she hasn’t visited
us…
Matt Herzfeld
Senior Director, Contemporary A&R & Catalog Acquisition, Primary Wave
Prior to closing a 20% royalty stake in
Rihanna’s first seven albums at PW, Herzfeld worked at the French Embassy in New York. He’s done $80m+ in catalog deals this year, including for
Dan Wilson (co-writer of
Adele’s “Someone Like You”) and
Steve Kipner (
Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical,”
Christina Aguilera’s “Genie in a Bottle”). He was also behind
Steve Aoki’s reworking of
Allee Willis’
Karate Kid theme, performed with
Travis Barker on the 2020
MTV Movie & TV Awards. Herzfeld majored in jazz guitar. We’re thinking of going to college someday.
Katie Baloian Co-Head, Marketing, AWAL
Five years into working with
twenty one pilots, Baloian was thrilled to celebrate with them at the 2017
Grammys when they accepted their trophy (memorably taking off their pants before taking the stage, a vow they’d made while sitting around in their underwear watching the show in years past). This year she’s shared in the success of
girl in red,
Jungle and
Little Simz. A trusted source for travel and restaurant recommendations the world over, Baloian knows better than to subject herself to T&E with the likes of us.
Matthew Limones
Director, Marketing, Universal Music Latino/Capitol Latin
This former
SoundExchange exec identified
Bad Bunny, Maluma and
Karol G early on and brought them into the fold. Ensuring that established Latin acts received their fair share of the organization’s $1b 2018 payout, he got
Daddy Yankee,
Enrique Iglesias and
Thalia a 102% increase in combined payments. On the label side, he’s launched
Luis Fonsi and
Myke Towers’ “Besame” and
Feid’s
Inter Shibuya-La Mafia, home to Colombian #1 “Si Tu Supieras.” Limones has a degree in biology and chemistry. We suspect he’ll have no chemistry with our biology.
