A BRIEF HISTORY OF
THE FLIM FLOM MAN

Son of famed Skadden Arps attorney Joseph Flom, newly named Capitol Music Group Chairman/CEO Jason Flom was the Chairman/CEO of the Atlantic Records Group before being summarily dismissed in an airport terminal by Warner Music Group's Lyor Cohen in August 2005. Two months later, he was named Chairman/CEO of Virgin Records Group.

Flom spent 26 years at Atlantic Records as the only label he’d ever worked for, first joining the company in 1979 as a field merchandiser, in charge of hanging posters and window displays in retail record outlets. He was credited with designing an AC/DC trade ad sporting the memorable line, "The Highway to Hell is paved with Platinum."

Taken under Doug Morris' wing, Flom moved to Atlantic’s A&R department, where he proceeded to sign a string of hit bands in the '90s, including hair metal staples like Twisted Sister, Skid Row and White Lion. He went on to ink Tori Amos, Grammy winners Clannad, Stone Temple Pilots, Collective Soul and Ireland’s Celtic Heartbeat label, which produced the Grammy-winning Riverdance project.

Founding Lava Records in 1995, Flom discovered, signed and developed artists who went on to sell more than 100 million records around the world in the label’s nine years of existence, including Kid Rock, The Corrs, Matchbox Twenty; Uncle Kracker, Simple Plan, Edwin McCain, Sugar Ray and Trans Siberian Orchestra. The company was raised to a full-fledged label within the Atlantic Records Group in June 2002, when the latter acquired the half of the company it didn’t own for $50 million.

Flom has been involved in a number of charitable organizations and social causes. He is currently an active board member for causes including the Drug Policy Alliance; the Innocence Project, which exonerates unjustly imprisoned individuals by using post-conviction DNA testing; and Families Against Mandatory Minimums (F.A.M.M.), whose mission is to oppose mandatory drug sentencing and to fight to free drug offenders from unduly harsh prison terms. He also serves on the board of the Legal Action Center, whose mission is to fight discrimination against people with histories of addiction, HIV/AIDS, or criminal records.