NOISEMAKERS:
SPOOKY SZN
In our latest roundup, we present eight rising professionals 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. Lucky for them, this feature will get them a commemorative fun-sized chocolate bar at participating Ralphs locations.
Jenny Kaufman
Head of Streaming Marketing/Promotion, Crush Music
Among other career highlights, Kaufman attended the final Hella Mega Tour shows at London Stadium alongside 75,000 screaming fans and participated in the launch of Miley Cyrus’ Endless Summer Vacation, whose “Flowers” amassed 1b streams faster than any song in Spotify history. She’s now promoting singles by Fall Out Boy and Cyrus as well as Sia’s “Gimme Love” and prepping for the second leg of FOB’s U.S. tour, Train’s 2024 U.K. run, Weezer dates and the biggest Green Day rollout yet. Kaufman says she was “surprisingly likeable” in high school. We were not.
Quinn McGinley
GM, Hallwood Recordings
Back when McGinley was Hallwood boss Neil Jacobson’s EA, he got to see Travis Scott at the office, watch producer Mike Dean in the studio and behold production trio Beach Noise’s Best Rap Song Grammy win for its contribution to Kendrick Lamar’s “The Heart Pt. 5.” As GM of the company’s label and publishing division, he’s in the process of signing BOI WHT and Adrey and gearing up for the rollout of the debut LP by ALEXSUCKS’, the band’s 2024 U.S. tour and SASH’s fall/winter EP. McGinley overcomes his fear of flying only when it means escaping from us.
Mya Hansen
Director, Creative A&R, Sony Music Publishing
Morgan Wallen fans have Hansen to thank for setting up the session with Ashley Gorley, JKash, Charlie Handsome and John Byron that resulted in the record-breaking #1 hit “Last Night.” Presently, she’s working on projects for songwriters Tate McRae, Bella Poarch, Koe Wetzel, Ella Langley and Nate Smith. Hansen and SMP A&R Director Scout Easley recently signed Medium Build, in partnership with pubco Work of Art. Hailing from the Jersey Shore, this A&R exec has the outline of the Garden State tattooed on her ankle. We have a tramp stamp that reads “Hey, buddy.”
John Scholz
Co-Founder, JET Management & Maison Arts
Scholz fondly recalls Outkast’s 2014 Lollapalooza headlining set, during which he co-managed the duo for Career Artist Management, reminiscing, “It was a wall of sound and the loudest audience I’d ever heard.” He’s currently focused on the five-continent BLOND:ISH event series Abracadabra, Justice’s 2024 album cycle, new signing NEIL FRANCES and JET’s partnership with 88rising. On the pub side, he handles a roster that includes recent Maison signees JAB, Mombru and Lisa Luxx. And he’s launching Maison Records. Scholz is a self-described “big nerd.” What does that make us?
Kellyn McKay
Associate Director, Marketing, RCA Records
McKay feels fortunate to have worked closely with label chief Mark Pitts on gold and platinum campaigns for Nardo Wick’s “Who Want Smoke??,” “Me or Sum” and “Dah Dah DahDah,” Young Nudy’s “Peaches & Eggplants” and MTV VMA nominee Flo Milli’s “Conceited.” She’s lately devoted her energies to Teezo Touchdown’s debut, How Do You Sleep at Night?, and new music by Milli and ATL rapper-singer Kenny Mason. McKay once interned at a Grammy office; today she’s a member of the Recording Academy. We don’t want to belong to any academy that would have us as a member.
Benedict Paz
Director, Business and Legal Affairs/A&R Admin, EMPIRE
Paz was key to signing aptly named producer Hit-Boy’s company, Surf Club, to a joint venture with EMPIRE, for which he also cleared Peezy’s gold “2 Million Up,” later working on a publishing deal for the Detroit rapper. Fast forward to smoothing the path for tracks from Peezy’s GHETTO and BabyTron’s Megatron 2, plus Westside Gunn’s “And Then You Pray for Me,” and onboarding the catalogs of recent pub acquisitions like Dro Kenji and Scorey. Before law school, Paz was an aspiring astronomer and cinematographer. We’re aspiring music-industry trade journalists.
Ashlee Gibbs
GM/Director of Operations, Prescription Songs & Amigo Records
In 2017, after working in financial services for 10 years, Gibbs switched to music publishing and label services. She’s been part of Kim Petras’ team since then and was understandably thrilled to witness her “magical” 2023 Grammy win for “Unholy.” At the moment she’s pumped for new music by Petras, Joy Oladokun, Big Boss Vette, Ethel Cain, LU KALA and SNOW WIFE, as well as the expansion of Prescription and Amigo. Gibbs has seen New Found Glory live at least 24 times and the Descendants no fewer than 10. No one has seen us more than once—willingly, at least.
Kyree Hollis
Digital Marketing Coordinator, Create Music Group
Hollis can say he worked with Ice Spice before “Munch (Feelin’ U)” made her mainstream, helped DeeBaby’s junkie mode hit #8 on Apple Music without the benefit of guest features, lent creative input to Ye’s The Life of Pablo and once spoke to Michael Jackson on the phone. He’s now busy with tracks like “Hurts Me,” by Tory Lanez, Trippie Redd & Yoko Gold, and aiding artists in building brands into saleable assets. Hollis has written a gold-certified track but doesn’t see himself having a career in that field. We don’t see ourselves having careers in any field.
