NOISEMAKERS:
THE Q4 KICKOFF
In our latest roundup, we present eight more stars of tomorrow from various parts of the biz whose dedication and effort make their superiors look good.
This week's entrants will also find their faces in our latest mag. Thankfully, they had an extra hour to lament this mortifying experience.
Jenny Gorotiza
Senior Director, Marketing, Island Records
While a Def Jam intern attending her first label showcase, Gorotiza witnessed JAY-Z introducing new artists Rihanna and Ne-Yo. She’s since worked on Anderson .Paak’s Grammy-winning 12Tone releases and gotten to show Q-Tip her A Tribe Called Quest tattoo. At Island, she’s dialed into Jessie Reyez’s #1 iTunes R&B album, YESSIE, and SleazyWorld Go’s debut mixtape and platinum single, “Sleazy Flow,” plus keshi and Sabrina Carpenter’s sold-out headlining tours. Gorotiza made the cake for DNCE’s “Cake by the Ocean” artwork. We’re good at eating cake by our desks.
Sam Lockhart
VP, A&R, Disruptor Records & Management
Lockhart was delighted to see the pre-save fan-capture strategy he developed (which was covered by Rolling Stone) propel Dove Cameron’s platinum “Boyfriend” and the gold “I AM WOMAN” by Emmy Meli (whom he helped sign) to 500m+ combined global streams. On the management front, he’s excited about Maude Latour, who’s gone from club shows to sold-out sets at New York’s Bowery Ballroom, and new material by Matt Hansen. Lockhart has an elderly pen pal he talks with most Sundays through a local volunteer program. I wonder if he’d do that with us.
Victoria Gutierrez
Music Agent, UTA
After helping book Missy Elliott at FYF in 2017—her first major U.S. appearance in over 10 years—Gutierrez marked the occasion by dancing onstage in a “completely magical” moment. Now, she’s excited about booking JID’s 2023 tour in support of his latest album, The Forever Story. Gutierrez also recently aided in securing Earthgang as support for Gorillaz and Rexx Life Raj’s ongoing trek, the latter’s first major global tour. She enjoys gardening and would never let a houseplant die. As for us, we can barely take care of ourselves.
Noah Rosenberg
Manager/A&R, Electric Feel Entertainment
Rosenberg still can’t believe he got to go to London to work at XL Recordings while still in school. After joining EF, he was thrilled to enact his first pub deal by helping ink client Evan Gartner to Pulse. Today, he’s working with publishing clients Linden Jay (Doja Cat) and Nick Mira, as well as management clients Westen Weiss, Feli Ferraro and Blaise Railey—the latter two are credited on BTS’ #1 album Proof. On the artist side, Rosenberg is all over new material by 24kGoldn. This giant Mets fan also takes pride in his vinyl collection. We have no pride.
Ashley Lewis
Director, Wasserman Music
Lewis is proud to have seen Louis Tomlinson sell out back-to-back shows at the YouTube Theatre, been in the prayer circle with her JOHNNYSWIM team before their Grand Ole Opry show in April―after the duo hadn't been on stage for two-plus years due to the pandemic―and watched The Neighbourhood play for 15k+ fans at the Hollywood Bowl in 2021. She’s currently booking tours for Tomlinson, JOHNNYSWIM, Janelle Monáe, Vance Joy and Tom Odell. Lewis once thought she’d be a famous country singer and wrote acceptance speeches for a future CMA Award. We obviously wouldn’t have been thanked.
Norva Denton
SVP, A&R, Warner Records
Growing up listening to The Gap Band, Chicago native Denton cherished working with one of his idols, GB lead singer Charlie Wilson, and writing records with him. Denton also boasts credits on material by Wale, 2KBABY and YFN Lucci, among other artists he’s helped develop since joining Warner in 2018. This year, he served as co-executive producer of Freddie Gibbs’ $oul $old $eparately. You can catch this hot-rod enthusiast on weekends at Bob’s Big Boy in Toluca Lake, Calif., for its renowned classic-car shows. You can catch us on the couch.
Michelle Locke
Manager, Marketing & Strategic Partnerships, °1824
Among Locke’s favorite partnerships are Remi Wolf x Horis & Horton—it raised $3k for Social Tees Animal Rescue—and NCT 127 x Boba Guys, which brought out 5k fans. She’s also stoked to have co-created the Plug In Mentorship program, pairing 40+ young Black creatives with biz mentors and placing seven students in roles at UMG. Today, she’s working on alliances and campaigns for Babyface, JID, Doechii, Lil Yachty, Midwxst and more. Having visited 23 states, Locke plans to hit the remaining 27 in the next five years. Bet we won’t get postcards.
Chris Fabiani
National Director, Radio, Warner Music Nashville
Kentucky-bred “Fabs” made his promotion bones working UMG acts in the Midwest. His tenure helping break the Grammy-winning duo Brothers Osborne included a pit stop and performance at his childhood home. In his new role at WMN, he leads a promo team that gets records on the radio for talent like Blake Shelton, Cody Johnson, Cole Swindell and BRELAND, whom he calls “the future of country music.” Among the perks of Fabiani’s career thus far: an invitation to Lionel Richie’s house. Needless to stay, he wanted to stay all night long.
