February 13, 2017, Issue 536
Meet Warner’s Matt Signore
Named as incoming Warner Music Nashville COO as far back as July, Matt Signore brings 25 years of record business experience, a long history with WMN Chairman/CEO John Esposito and a few other Nashville connections to the role he started Jan. 1. CA: How did you end up in the music business? MS: I worked as a CPA in New York for a big accounting firm. Back in that day with those jobs, you hoped one of your clients would hire you. I had a friend who worked on the acquisition of Island Records by Polygram, went there and basically had a job for me. I was 26 years old, got a $3,000 raise and I could wear jeans to work. I came home and said, “I think I want to do this.” I wasn’t a musician and didn’t want to be in the music business, necessarily. But I went to work for Island and ultimately Island/Def Jam on the Matt Signore business side. How did you meet Espo? In 1994, he was the head of catalog sales at Polygram. He was the guy trying to get labels to clear things for catalog work, and my boss was a pain in the ass. His first memory of me was as the finance guy at Island who helped him get stuff done. When Universal bought Polygram and created Island/Def Jam, Espo was GM. I was going to leave the company in 2000, but he created a job for me. My title was basically “everybody’s best friend.” I was the business guy who helped all the operating departments do better with their business operations. Promotion, sales, marketing – they all have a business element to what they do. It was fascinating for me and really bonded the two of us. If he doesn’t make that opportunity for me, I probably (continued on page 6)
Exclusive Club: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament winner Jordan Spieth (l) and partner Jake Owen celebrate a big weekend on the links. In addition to the pair placing third in the Pro-Am, Owen was honored with the Arnie Award, which he is holding. “Having my family there, and my cancer-free Dad caddying for me all week made it so special,” Owen says.
Bandtwango Funds The Fun
Artists using crowd funding websites isn’t new – but industry vet John Alexander felt something was missing from the concept after a friend raised capital for her album. “She had this money, but didn’t know what to do with it,” says Alexander, who, with business partner Carl Allocco, created Bandtwango.
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