NOISEMAKERS:
THE HEAT WAVE
In our latest roundup, we present eight more rising professionals from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
At the very least, we're told copies of our mag make for good fans, which could come in handy on the hot summer days ahead.
Donna Spievak
Senior Director of Strategic Marketing, Interscope Records
Lady Gaga has Spievak to thank for her global, multiyear Valentino campaign; she’s now the face of the designer’s beauty line, including new fragrance Voce Viva. The marketing guru likewise facilitated Billie Eilish’s role as MCM brand ambassador. In other Spievak superstar news, she recently paired Olivia Rodrigo with Glossier for Vogue’s Beauty Secrets. And let’s not forget the time she had Madonna play Eurovision, a performance viewed by 200m+ people. Spievak’s mom owns a crêperie—word to yo mama, a crêpe a day keeps HITS away.
David Rishty
President, Palm Tree Records/Sony; Founder, Exchange Management
Rishty’s been making all the right moves, from music-blogging to shepherding the career of Exchange act Midnight Kids, who independently released their debut single, “Find Our Way”—earning millions of streams and love from iHeartRadio and SiriusXM—then signed to RCA. The music man’s moves also include rolling out work by indie-electronic duo Forester through Palm Tree, Kygo and Myles Shear’s joint venture with Sony Music, where Rishty was recently upped to President. His comedy career is likewise no joke; he’s done stand-up at NYC’s famed Comedy Cellar.
Hannah Montgomery
A&R Executive, Prescription Songs
Among other career highlights, in 2019 Montgomery saw Arizona Zervas’ TikTok-assisted “ROXANNE,” co-written by Prescription’s Lauren LaRue, go viral. The A&R hitter’s roster also includes A1 LaFlare (The Kid LAROI, MGK), Kaine (Saweetie, Doja Cat), Nick Bailey (Marshmello, Demi Lovato) and Ryan Ogren (G-Eazy, blackbear). As a cofounder of the nonprofit IGAF (I Give a Fuck), Montgomery brings industry professionals together around a service-oriented mission. Fortunately for them, we don’t meet the requirement.
Andreas Rizek
Senior Director of A&R, Ultra Music/Ultra Music Publishing
Rizek was stoked to see his signing Clinton Kane debut earlier this year with 100k+ pre-saves on “Chicken Tendies,” which has since amassed 39m+ streams. He’s equally proud of signees Bijan Amir, who co-produced Offset & Metro Boomin’s “Ric Flair Drip,” and Nick Henriques, co-producer of Loud Luxury’s “Body”—the two have each earned 1b+ streams. Rizek also helped land Coi Leray’s platinum hit “No More Parties” at Republic and put Steve Aoki & Farruko’s “Aire” together for Ultra Records. A former DJ, Rizek is deep in the groove.
Taryn Lacroix
Associate Manager, Artist & Label Partnerships, Spotify
When you’ve seen Ozzy Osbourne at The Rainbow and gotten the nod from Phoebe Bridgers at the office, life can seem like a dream, or at least a dream job. Most recently, Lacroix had the pleasure of mounting an über-cool marketing initiative for St. Vincent’s Daddy’s Home led by an enhanced album experience with exclusive content and a bespoke vintage newspaper for super-fans. She’s also brainstorming how to top 2020’s record-breaking artist involvement in Spotify’s Wrapped campaign. Lacroix is a classically trained pianist; we’ve been called untrainable.
Dan Gross
Director, Synchronization, Warner Chappell Music
In 2006, Dan Gross sang in the choir for Twisted Sister’s A Twisted Christmas. In 2018, he curated a Mastercard Grammy promotion—part of the brand’s enduring “Priceless” campaign—featuring aspiring artists and SZA performing a cover of Willie Dixon’s “You Can’t Judge a Book by the Cover” recorded at the legendary Electric Lady Studios. In April, he hit the ground running at WCM with a Toyota Trucks sync for Colony House’s “O YA.” We expect his appearance here to be a momentary blip in an otherwise upward-trending career trajectory.
Amanda Good
Head of Marketing, The AMG
Good was beyond thrilled when George Strait, whom she worked with at UMG Nashville, won CMA Entertainer of the Year in 2013 amid his farewell tour—23 years after his previous win. She now oversees marketing at The AMG, handling projects for management clients like Chris Young, whose Famous Friends is imminent, and newcomer Kameron Marlowe. When she’s not “helping build the soundtrack to peoples’ lives,” Good keeps cool on the ice—she grew up playing hockey and will still body check you if you’re not careful. Go Preds!
Andrew Spalter
Founder, East Goes Global
East Goes Global is bridging the social-media and NFT gaps between China and the West. Nearly all the social and streaming platforms we take for granted (Instagram, YouTube, Spotify) are blocked in China, but Spalter and co. have secured upwards of 63m followers for U.S. artists, accumulating a combined 3b in reach on Douyin (China’s version of TikTok), Weibo (microblogging), Bilibili (video sharing), QQ (instant messaging) and NetEase (gaming). Spalter also knows how to cook—his Shakshuka is to die for. Our cooking will make you want to die.
