A TASTE OF RAINMAKERS II:
AARON BAY-SCHUCK
& TOM CORSON
It was on Oct. 3, 2017, in just his second day on the job, that Max Lousada made his first bold move as incoming WMG recorded-music head, detailing sweeping changes to Warner Bros. Records (which officially became Warner Records in May). Lousada confirmed that Aaron Bay-Schuck, who was then Interscope President of A&R, had accepted Lousada’s offer to become Co-Chairman/CEO of the Bunny, while Tom Corson, President/COO of RCA, would be Co-Chairman/COO. The duo would function as partners, Lousada explained, with Corson running the label’s operations and Bay-Schuck heading creative, mirroring the Atlantic setup.
There’s no template to navigating your way through the music biz, and the Co-Chairmen of WBR took entirely different paths to their shared destination. Bay-Schuck, 37, is currently the youngest executive to hold that title at a major label. Bay-Schuck was born in 1981, the year Corson got his start in the biz, interning at I.R.S. Records. Corson brings a lifetime of experience to the Bunny, deftly cruising his way through a career spanning four decades.
Few executives can claim to have signed, developed and broken a superstar. Few executives climb to a CEO position at a major label at such a young age. But Bay-Schuck’s creative skillset was so off the charts that Atlantic CEO Craig Kallman and fellow next-gen executives John Janick and Mike Caren enthusiastically championed the young A&R during the early stages of his career at Atlantic.
“Aaron is one of the most honorable and committed music executives I’ve known,” says Caren. “In a business that’s highly competitive and where the average sacrifice ethics for advantage, Aaron is one of the few I’ve never seen compromise. And yet he’s broken artists, made hits and grown on his own terms, all while earning incredible respect from anyone he interfaces with. Aaron puts music and relationships ahead of all, and will create an environment [at WBR] with true constructive engagement for both artists and executives.”
Prior to moving to Burbank, Corson was part of the revitalization of RCA, consolidating Jive, J Records and Arista into the RCA Music Group in 2011 at the direction of incoming Sony Music CEO Doug Morris, which led to the creation of the modern-day RCA.
Corson and CEO Peter Edge then executed a comeback for the second-oldest U.S. label, spearheaded by Justin Timberlake, a transformed Miley Cyrus and P!nk.
“Tom is the guy who keeps the ‘trains running’ at any record company he is working at,” says Corson’s attorney, Joel Katz. “He is a true leader trained by the true leader of executives, Doug Morris, and he is the perfect partner for Aaron Bay-Shuck. Tom’s knowledge and experience of the overall music business, combined with Aaron’s artist and repertoire skills and talent, will quickly move Warner Records to a position of real prominence as a label. They are now together the Butch Cassidy and Sundance of the modern-day record business.”
Two generations of Warner leadership gather under the latest banner of Warner Records: From left, Bay-Schuck,
Lenny Waronker, Mo Ostin and Corson.
