Lyor Cohen

The veteran music mogul on the pitfalls of viral hits and what defines success

- AMY X. WANG

You’ve led the music business from so many different sides. What’s the achievement you’re most proud of?

Being the road manager of Run- DMC and learning the essence of our business. Ultimately, the artist and the fan have to close the deal, and I realized that what Run-DMC did — and the Beastie Boys to an extent — was close the deal onstage. As we talk about the future of music and how the digital platforms provide much more music to many more people, I think live [performance] is going to be incredibly important.

A lot of people can fake a lot of shit digitally. But the truth will always be told where there is no agent, no manager, no DSP, no radio station between the artist and the fan. Mano a mano. I learned this in the three and a half years of being Run-DMC’s road manager. We separated ourselves from all the other rap artists emerging by burning down every single stage we came across.

So what do you think of the artists who were signed from TikTok during the pandemic and have never performed live?