A TASTE OF RAINMAKERS 2024: JOHN JANICK

Rainmakes 2024 subject John Janick has had a sizzling 2024, capped by his stepping into an elevated role as the head of the combined Interscope Capitol Labels Group, which enjoys industry-leading overall market share. Once again, IGA enjoyed sizzling success as the company’s remarkable strength in artist development continued to pay off. Billie Eilish dropped another huge release and began the next chapter in her extraordinary career; chart-dominating acts such as Olivia Rodrigo, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, KAROL G and a returning Lady Gaga went from strength to strength; Hanumankind took off for the newly incorporated Capitol; and the company’s global growth— thanks in large part to its canny HYBE deal and the rapid growth of Interscope’s Miami division—leveled up in a big way.

I thought we’d start the macro of where we are now in terms of A&R. I’m hearing a lot about how, post-pandemic, the emphasis has changed somewhat in that the role of analytics has shifted. How is this affecting your direction and perspective on A&R?

I think that we have the same approach that we’ve always had—investing in artists that we feel are going to move culture and have long careers. But for the business, I think it’s good that there’s been a bit of a reset. Compared to when streaming really started to take hold, and then going into the pandemic, it felt like there were some shortcuts. We’ve always paid attention to the data, but tried to find acts we could really develop for the long term and build into career artists. For a while, there were artists or songs that you could jump on that were moving, and the data would show that. But even during that time, we didn’t want to sign artists or songs for the moment. We always want to find career artists.

But we continue to do what IGA has always done, which is real artist development: having vision, working with the right artists and building for the future.

Because I think of you as the leading edge of artist development, I wonder if you can walk me through a couple of artists’ careers that you have been developing over the past five years or so and how you’ve gone from discovery to domination with them. Can you talk about the path you took with Billie?

Well, first you have to find the great artists. I try not to play Monday-morning quarterback and say you knew something would be successful from the start, but with Billie, I knew when I sat with her that she was special and that we had to sign her. You can’t claim to have known exactly what an artist was going to be and how big they’d become. But meeting Billie when she was 13, having a great partner in Darkroom and Justin [Lubliner], everything was about the long term and not taking shortcuts. She and FINNEAS were so young at the time, so giving them the time and space to create the music and figure out visually what they wanted to do was essential. Billie and Finn’s parents also understood the long-term vision and were on board. They’ve instilled such great values into their kids, and they’ve been an integral part of the team from day one.

You’ve also had such great global success with Olivia, whom you and your team signed and who has become a superstar. How did she characterize what she wanted to do when you first met her?

The first time I met Olivia it was really clear. I remember her sitting in my office. We talked, and she had such strong vision. She was so determined and she was a star.

Her main emphasis was that she is a songwriter first. And from the very beginning I recognized that was true.

She originally wrote “drivers license” and all these great songs for an EP. We knew “drivers license” was an amazing song but thought it was going to take time to develop because it was a ballad. But obviously it exploded as soon as it came out. Olivia decided right away she wanted to make an album rather than an EP, because she felt—and we agreed—that she’s an album artist. She wrote a handful of additional songs while she was finishing high school and filming High School Musical at the time. We made the “drivers license” video in Salt Lake City, where she was filming. She was so driven and focused and she really set the tone for all of us. Olivia knew what it should all turn into. She’s a brilliant artist and has a clear vision for herself.

Can you talk a minute about the team you’ve built at IGA?

We have an amazing team. Obviously, Steve Berman has been amazing in guiding so many things. But it’s really impossible to give you a list of all the people who are integral to our success, because everyone at the company plays a role in making IGA great.

We spend a lot of time ensuring that we have the right people in the right positions, and we empower them to do their jobs. So many of our people have spent the bulk of their careers at IGA, which I am very proud of. I honestly feel that IGA is our artists and our people, and we have the best of both.

(The 2024 edition of Rainmakers will be published this fall.)