ROSENBERG EM-BARKING ON NEW PATH AS DEF JAM CHIEF

Paul Rosenberg is stepping in as the new CEO of Def Jam, effective Jan. 1, 2018. Steve Bartels will continue to helm the company in the interim.

The well liked and highly respected Detroit native is best known as the manager of Eminem and the co-founder of Em’s Shady Records. His Goliath Artists management shop has continued to develop hip-hop and other artists over the last several years (he's also an attorney and has served as exec producer on feature films and TV series). He will continue to manage Eminem and to run Shady. He'll be based in the company's NYC offices and report to Sir Lucian Grainge.

Def Jam, founded in 1983 by Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons in the former’s NYU dorm, is one of the most vibrant music brands to emerge in the last few decades. Among its first acts were LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys; Slayer and Public Enemy came aboard later. Among the stars latterly broken by the label are Justin Bieber, Rihanna, Kanye West (who founded the DJ subsidiary G.O.O.D.), Frank Ocean, Big Sean, Alessia Cara, Logic, 2 Chainz, Iggy Azalea and YG. Jay-Z, Lyor Cohen, L.A. Reid and Bartels all played major roles in developing the label over the last 20 years.

The label was folded into the Island Def Jam Music Group and Reid came aboard as chairman in 2004. Def Jam was spun off as a freestanding label once more in 2014, with Bartels at the head.

Now begins a new chapter. Stay tuned.