Hired by Robert Kyncl as YouTube’s Head of Global Music, the controversial former label boss and entrepreneur has embarked on an unlikely mission to unite the video giant and a deeply suspicious industry — even as some bizzers predict “war”: “Would they prefer a career employee, or someone who got into the boiler room?” asks Cohen
One February afternoon, Lyor Cohen shows me around the soundstage at YouTube Space LA. The new facility, located on the site of what was once a Hughes Aircraft plant for building helicopters, is one of nine that parent company Google has built around the world to encourage the creation and evolution of user-generated programming. For a 57-year-old man who was plastering Snapchat with videos and pictures of his emergency hospitalization for a pulmonary embolism a few months ago, Cohen looks as vigorous as a panther.
“I don’t need to take it slow,” he says when asked about his health. “In fact, I’m accelerating. I’m moving hard.”
Indeed, Cohen’s medical emergency was just the first in a recent string of life-changing events. Last summer, the former chairman/CEO of Warner Music Group married Christie’s executive Xin Li, a former model and basketball player from China. The opulent affair — his third wedding, held at his summer house in Sag Harbor, N.Y., with a surprise fireworks display arranged by the couple’s friend, Wendi Murdoch — was well covered by the fashion and society pages. But the biggest news came in the fall when Cohen opted to leave 300 Entertainment, the boutique music company he co-founded with great fanfare in 2012, to join YouTube as its head of global music.
That YouTube reached for a brand-name music executive for help isn’t all that surprising: Streaming leaders Apple Music and Spotify have brought in Jimmy Iovine and Troy Carter, respectively, while Questlove functions as Pandora’s in-house guru and “artist ambassador.” What is surprising is YouTube’s selection of Cohen, a record exec whose reputation is more brawler than bridge builder.
This story is from the March 11, 2017 edition of Billboard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the March 11, 2017 edition of Billboard.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
pandora's risky business
with 78 million users, streaming’s original music service remains an online radio giant — but increasingly threatened by subscription blue chips like spotify and apple music. now, amid layoffs and acquisition rumors, co-founder/ceo tim westergren is about to launch an ambitious bid for subscribers of its own: “the other products out there are unsatisfying”
The Three Amigos
A rowdy trio raised together in North Atlanta, Migos cut a singularly now path to pop stardom: STEP 1 Launch a dance craze. STEP 2 Score a No. 1 with the help of a meme. STEP 3 Spend Grammy night partying with superfans Chance the Rapper and Chris Brown — as Billboard tags along. “I try not to be cocky,” says Takeoff, “but hey, we the shit, man”
California's Hero Of Cannabis Legalization
Lieutenant governor Gavin Newsom has rock star friends, his own clubs and a progressive agenda that got his state’s landmark Proposition 64 legislation passed — and the music industry rallying behind him
The Green Album
As vinyl sales hit a nearly 30-year high, Slightly Stoopid’s managers create a novelty that music-loving potheads could only dream of: an LP made entirely of hash
Simon Cowell, the Svengali's Second Act
From 1D to Fifth Harmony, the TV and music mogul owns pop culture. Now 56, he’s going in front of the camera again as he heads to America’s Got Talent, talks Harry Styles solo, plays with his 2-year-old son and reveals a certain sentimentality about American Idol: ‘I like to torture myself’
Twenty One Pilots on Their Musical Bromance and Fleeting Fame
Twenty One Pilots have blown up at top 40 radio, sold out massive arenas and even drawn the ire of millennial-bashing columnists with an unapologetic mashup of suburban angst, rap and reggae. But to Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun, all that matters is their bond - with each other and their (millennial) fans. “It probably seems like two good-looking guys making pop music. But really it’s just the opposite.”
Gone Girl
Camila Cabello Kicked Off Her Solo Career and Her Band Sisters in Fifth Harmony Unexpectedly Denounced Her for It. Now She’s Got a Top Five Single, a Much-anticipated Album Coming and Zero Second Thoughts: “you Have to Honor That Inner Voice”
The Rise And Fall And Rise Of Nicky Jam
Born in the USA, catapulted to teen fame in Puerto Rico and practically washed up by his 20s, Nicky Jam went to Medellín, Colombia — a city haunted by its drug kingpin past — to find sobriety, love and greater-than-ever success. Billboard spends 48 hours with the reggaetón superstar in his adopted home as he prepares for his wedding — and, oh yeah, scores a No. 1 Latin album
Fifth Harmony: Pretty Little Fighters
Girl groups were supposed to have been kaput when The X Factor threw together five ambitious teens with hard-knock childhoods. But as Fifth Harmony finally attains the upper reaches of the Hot 100, the tight-knit group finds itself “traumatized” by the strain of prepackaged fame, isolated from family and struggling to stay balanced. Now, they’re eager to assert their opinions on the industry, politics and Kanye West: “We finally have a damn voice.”
Jennifer Nettles: A Star Goes Back To Her Roots
Four years after Sugarland’s split, Jennifer Nettles is supporting Hillary and advocating for female artists (bro country be damned): “It’s in my blood”
