Berklee today is the official alumni publication of Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a forum for contemporary music and musicians.
Issue link: http://berkleetoday.epubxp.com/i/827757
16 Berklee today "Blurred Lines" (Robin Thicke), "Let Me Love You" (DJ Snake featuring Justin Bieber). Jacobson was instrumental in pairing Avicii with Aloe Blacc to create the mega hit "Wake Me Up" and played a part in Bhasker's successful productions of "Uptown Funk" (Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars) and "We Are Young (Fun. featuring Janelle Monáe). "When I go to a wedding or a bar mitzvah," he says, "at least 10 songs played there are records I worked on. If I had died 10 years ago, those records might not have happened. I may not be solely responsible, but my fingerprints are on them. It's magical and part of the business that I love." When You Yell . . . Jacobson is demonstrably passionate about his artists and the records he feels are future hits. He refers to himself as a hypercommunicator. He fits the mold of the old-school re- cord label man who spends much of his time on the phone calling people like Spotify editors, journalists, radio stations, TV and movie people—anyone who can help to get his new record heard. Another big chunk of his time is spent in the studio with his artists and producers as he tends the A&R; re- lationships. Jacobson also uses his inborn zeal to get people within the UMG organization behind a song. He has become known for making impassioned pitches in board meetings. During his years working elbow-to-elbow with Jimmy Iovine, he observed a lot and gleaned much wisdom from his former boss. Iovine instilled in him the motto "Make it Happen." Throughout his career, Jacobson has leaned on his ability to sell and persuade people to feel what he feels about the music he's working on. A mover and shaker, he's always trying to make things happen. Iovine also provided guidance to the younger Jacobson who has a reputation for getting excited and raises his voice in the process of selling his point of view. "One thing Jimmy used to say was 'If you are 100 per- cent right, you are allowed to yell as hard as you want,'" Jacobson says. "'If you are even one percent wrong, the whole thing falls down and you're being a jerk. Make sure you're 100 percent right when you go in for a fight.'" While not a contentious person by nature, Jacobson firmly stands his ground in disagreements while working with innumerable constituents. "I love my artists and want them to succeed like a family would want a brother or a cousin to succeed. Even when we're fighting—and I fight with my artists sometimes—it's like arguing with brothers, sisters, and cousins. The closer you are the more it's going to happen." An Eye Toward the Future John Janick succeeded Iovine as president of Interscope Records in 2014 after Iovine's departure to work on Beats headphones and later, Apple Music. Janick took note of Jacobson when he (Janick) was at Atlantic Records. He needed Jacobson to persuade Bhasker to meet with Fun., one of the bands Janick had gotten behind. Janick wanted Bhasker to produce Fun., but was getting nowhere. It took some arm-twisting, but Jacobson got Bhasker in a room with members of Fun. After hearing the voice of front man Nate Ruess, Bhasker signed on to produce the group's Some Nights album, which yielded the huge hit "We Are Young." In 2013, Janick was brought in as COO of Interscope, a step in the leadership transition from Iovine to Janick. "I liked John and knew he was smart and had great vision and ears," Jacobson says. "We spent some time together and he became my boss. I told him four years ago when he started that I wanted to be the president of Geffen. He said he had a different idea for the company's direction. I told him that I was going to keep working my career to- ward Geffen." Persistence and determination paid off. In December 2016, Janick named Jacobson Geffen's new ex- ecutive and charged him with revitalizing the iconic label. In Geffen's glory days, the imprint released records by such titans as Aerosmith, Cher, the Eagles, Nelly Furtado, Peter Gabriel, Selena Gomez, Imogen Heap, Joni Mitchell, Mos Def, and many more. In the months since his appointment, a fully energized Jacobson has hit the ground running. "We have about five or seven artists signed now, and in 36 months I hope to be the hottest young label in the business with about 30 acts," Jacobson says. "I am also in charge of the Geffen cat- alog. We are partners with Nirvana and Guns N' Roses. I am going to make sure the catalog is reinvented and reinvigo- rated, and that Spotify will put our songs in their playlist, and see that catalog songs get into movies and TV shows and any other place where the catalog can be consumed. That's a massive business for Geffen." While many decry the state of the record labels, Jacobson sees a bright future for both labels and artists with revenue from new media—especially streaming ser- vices—and the potential of telecoms bundling music ser- vices in monthly phone bills. That holds promise for more revenue from countries like China, India, Russia, and Mexico where small segments of the populations purchase music, but large proportions listen. Jacobson says the new model "is about nickels and dimes—billions of them." "I'm very excited for the record business in the future," he says. "When I started, the business was at its peak, but for the last 13 years there have been double-digit declines. That was bad for artists because we weren't able to invest as much to get their music heard all over the world. All of a sudden with this new aggregate of money in the pool, there is a path for us to invest in our artists' careers so they can be big enough to drive the records to become hits. "I would tell you that either Universal Music Group will fire me or I'll do this job for the next 20 years of my life," he says. "I don't want to do anything else. I just want to find great musicians and amplify them to the world. It's thrilling." The new model "is about nickels and dimes— billions of them." Neil Jacobson (left) and John Janick, chairman and COO of Interscope. Janick named Jacobson the president of Geffen Records.