Jordan Alston

As Acting Head of Music - reporting into the Chief Operations Officer - I am responsible for developing and executing on the overall artist booking strategy for Wave shows, in support of the company’s mission and strategic objectives. In this artist-facing role I partnered closely with cross-functional teams across Creative, Production, Legal, Product and Marketing.

• Scouted and signed rising artists like Teflon Sega (signed to a 3-metaverse show feature series) FN Meka (10 million TikTok Followers) while assisting production on "megashows" like the Justin Bieber Metaverse Experience with Justin Bieber (1,459,628 attendees) and Riot Games/League of Legends fan-favorite, Pentakill (1,647,587 attendees).
• Lead creative packaging, headlining and pitching of Waves to artists like Joyner Lucas, Sonny Digital, 88Rising's Niki, and Lizzo with approval from key stakeholders in Creative and Content/Production.

While serving as chief music officer in a role created specifically for me, I acquired, published, and curated new content to ensure our libraries using my industry insight while discovering new musicians and negotiating licensing deals. I also led quantitative research efforts to shape and structure long-term music strategy.

• As head talent scout, signed 92 artists (including the company's 1st Grammy-winning [Saeed Renaud] and Grammy nominated [Jontavious Willis] talents) and added 7,903 new, original songs to the music library.
• Outline and negotiate music licensing agreements, label acquisitions, and create customized song pitches for writers, songs, & specific areas of the catalog that are informed by a direct knowledge of both our music user client's creative needs.
• Onboard, train, and direct Europe-based talent review team of 12 on audio selection standards and metadata management systems.

Leading the United States A&R team, I devised and effectuated long-term A&R strategies for a team of 9, using my communication skills, very strong relationships recording industry relationships, and knowledge of intellectual property laws to sign, produce, and market emerging international music artists.

• Spearheaded artist relations, working with artist management from signing to supervision of the recording and post production process (sourcing producers, engineers, studios, mixers, mastering, co-writes, features, etc.)
• Expanded label footprint globally by signing 18 artists in first 60 days with the company, (including Daysia Hall [American Idol], Joseph Apostol [Voice UK], and DJ Eggsta [Sony/Top 100 DJane worldwide] producing 90 singles and 38 music videos while leading U.S. expansion of "bndr Live" live stream concert series, producing show production in Atlanta, New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas, including "11 Nights, 11 BNDRs" mega show featuring Kyle Massey, Salma Slims, the Migos, and Juice Wrld.

Spearheaded conceptualization of new promotional efforts responsible for boosting brand presence and market penetration while enhancing attendee engagement and driving growth, including an event strategy featuring 70 Grammy-nominated artists, 10 Grammy-winners, 4 XXL Magazine Freshmen alumni, and legacy music brands like A3C and South by Southwest. Participating artists include Missy Elliott, Jeezy, André 3000, Kodie Shane, Future, Big Boi, 21 Savage, India Shawn, Fortebowie, T.I., Money Makin Nique, and Dallas Austin.

• Co-coordinated launch of artist scouting and mentorship program, the "Playlist Academy", discovering talents Johnny Apollo and E Chapo (Rowdy Records) in the inaugural class.

As the chief talent scout leading Hip-Hop and R&B artist discovery, I signed music talent to distribution and publishing agreements while assisting company leadership develop and maintain relationships with brands and partners like Cleopatra Records, 300 Entertainment, The Orchard, Warner Music Group, Symphonic Distribution, DJ Five Venoms, Allen York, Wes Fif, LaTheGoat, and Cliff Savage.

• Most significant victory saw me create an influencer marketing campaign that made Cliff Savage's single, “Uber” (5 million streams across DSPs in 60 days), go viral on Spotify with $0 in marketing spend.

Directing artist scouting, marketing, and partnerships teams, I conceptualized live activations while building and strengthening strategic relationships with vendors, advertising agencies, aligned brands, and leading music industry partners, including Bloomberg, A3C, Big Boi, Pitbull, The Source Magazone, SXSW, and Sonicbids.

• Scouted and signed emerging and established Hip-Hop, R&B, and Pop artists to exclusive-use agreements for our DSP, including 2-time Grammy nominee Locos Por Juana, El B, Great Caesar, Aloe Blacc, Fashawn, and DJ Chris Porter.
• Served as the chief project manager and creative director behind the “Playlist ATL” crowd DJ'ing app, which increased streaming subscription base by 30%.

Signed emerging songwriters/producers to production deals and managed our internal team of songwriters, engineers, and producers with a client list that included artists Noel Gourdain, B Smyth, The Rich Kids, and Rocko.

Sourced and signed emerging music artists in this role while acting as a project manager overseeing the song recording process, music distribution, project branding, and budgeting.

• Independently created a network of artist managers, music journalists, entertainment lawyers, venue bookers, and performance rights organization representatives to streamline song release processes.