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.
Bu hikaye Billboard dergisinin March 11, 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
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Bu hikaye Billboard dergisinin March 11, 2017 sayısından alınmıştır.
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