{"id":133859,"date":"2022-07-05T20:01:34","date_gmt":"2022-07-05T19:01:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=133859"},"modified":"2022-10-27T18:10:08","modified_gmt":"2022-10-27T17:10:08","slug":"key-songs-in-the-life-of-jon-platt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/key-songs-in-the-life-of-jon-platt\/","title":{"rendered":"Key Songs In The Life Of\u2026 Jon Platt"},"content":{"rendered":"

MBW’s Key Songs In The Life Of… is a series in which we ask influential music industry figures about the tracks that have \u2013 so far \u2013 defined their journey and their existence. This time, it’s the turn of Jon Platt, the global Chairman and CEO of Sony Music Publishing. We truly love this series, which originally began life in our Music Business UK<\/em> magazine, and you can expect a lot more of it to appear on MBW in the months and years ahead.<\/p>\n

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What links Run DMC, Queen, Eminem, Sammy Davis Jr., and Jay-Z?<\/p>\n

They’re all musical icons, of course. And, sure, all of them have sold ‘quite a few’ records over the years.<\/p>\n

But they’ve also each soundtracked the existence of Jon Platt \u2013 from fourth grade, all the way to Chairman & CEO of the No. 1<\/a> music publisher in the global league table.<\/p>\n

While MBW was in California recently, we visited Platt in his office at Sony’s L.A HQ.<\/p>\n

We set him an impossible challenge: Whittle down all of the amazing songs he’s heard in his time on earth so far, and highlight just a handful that have had the biggest impact on his life, and who he is as a person.<\/p>\n

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Jon’s answers, and the autobiographical stories behind each one, told us more than we bargained for about his upbringing, his entry into the music business, and what makes a true musical genius in his eyes.<\/p>\n

They also told us much about how seriously he takes his responsibility (a) in supporting songwriters, and (b) as the sole African American executive running a multinational major music company.<\/p>\n

(Platt\u2019s running that major music company rather well: According to MBW\u2019s<\/em> read of Sony\u2019s fiscal results<\/a>, Sony’s global music publishing operation, of which Sony Music Publishing makes up the vast majority of operations, generated USD $1.72 billion<\/strong> in 2021, up 19.7%<\/strong> YoY.)<\/p>\n

Here, in Jon’s words \u2013 and in the order he picked them \u2013 are his personal Key Songs, and the stories they inspire…<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>1) It’s like that, Run DMC (1983)<\/h6>\n

Run-D.M.C \u2013 the image of Run-D.M.C, what they meant for someone my age at that time \u2013 was life-changing for me.<\/p>\n

When this record came out, I was an aspiring DJ, I might have been 18 years old, living in Colorado. These were the days when artists would do an A and a B side: Sucker M.Cs<\/em> [the B-side] grabbed me first, then I discovered It’s Like That<\/em> was just as good.<\/p>\n

There were other hip-hop songs that I liked, whether it was Sugarhill Gang or Kurtis Blow, and I was a big fan of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five. But Run DMC was the first group that I loved<\/em>.<\/p>\n

When the album came out [the self-titled Run-D.M.C<\/em>, 1984], I could not stop playing it. And then after a 12-inch called Together Forever<\/em> \u2013 which was recorded in a park or something \u2013 everything Run-D.M.C did, I was in.<\/p>\n

“my friends and I drove to Dallas to see Run-D.M.C; five of us in my Ford Granada.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Following the release of the Raising Hell<\/em> album [1986], Run-D.M.C went on tour. They weren’t playing in Denver, but they were playing the Fresh Fest in Dallas, Texas, at the Six Flags amusement park. So my friends and I drove to Dallas to see Run-D.M.C; five of us in my Ford Granada [laughs].<\/p>\n

I met [Run D.M.C] in Dallas; I went out of my way to find what hotel they were staying in and booked myself into the same one. And that’s how I began to meet people like Lyor Cohen, Bill Stephney, Bill Adler, these Def Jam \/ Rush Management legends.<\/p>\n

As I’ll explain to you later, when I was DJ’ing in Denver, Def Jam started sending me records; that’s how it all kind of started coming together.<\/p>\n

A funny story about the [Fresh Fest] show was that the line-up was The Fat Boys, followed by Whodini, and then Run-D.M.C. However, at the beginning of the show, this young kid comes out and starts dancing and getting the crowd going, just killing it.<\/p>\n

Fast forward many years later, that young kid is one of my closest friends \u2013 Jermaine Dupri.<\/p>\n

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<\/figure>2) Public Enemy No.1 (1987)<\/h6>\n

By this point, I’m an established DJ in Denver, and I’m playing at this club called Norman\u2019s Place, to teens and college students.<\/p>\n

There’s a guy from Denver named Dave \u2018Funken\u2019 Klein, who would come to my parties. Dave somehow gets a summer internship with Def Jam, and then ends up getting hired full-time. Dave is sending me records from time to time, telling Def Jam, ‘My friend in Denver is the guy! He plays all the rap records out there!’<\/p>\n

One day I got a call from Dave, and he says: ‘Hey, can you do me a favor? If I send you this record, can you play it at your parties?’ I was like, yeah, sure.<\/p>\n

So he sends me a record [Public Enemy No.1<\/em>]. I play it at home when I’m practicing, and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is a different sound that I\u2019ve never heard, I don’t know if it’s going to work in the club.’ But I play the song anyway, and it gets a response. The following week, I play it again, and it gets more response. In fact, every time I play it, it gets a bigger and bigger response.<\/p>\n

So [Public Enemy No.1<\/em>] is released and becomes a hit, and then the album is released and becomes a classic. Then one day, Dave calls me and says: ‘Hey, I’m coming to Denver with the guys; they\u2019re playing a show. You want to hang out with us?’<\/p>\n

“the next day, I could not get that conversation out of my head. The seed was deeply planted.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So, I hang out with Dave and Chuck D, and Flav, and Terminator X, and we go to the venue together. Then Public Enemy finds out that the promoter doesn’t have the correct DJ equipment [for the venue], so to help \u2013 I offer them use of my DJ equipment. And that began my lifelong friendship with Chuck D.<\/p>\n

After that first meeting, every time Chuck would come to Denver, we would hang out.<\/p>\n

One time Chuck comes to Denver, P.E is on tour with Ice Cube \u2013 this is soon after the release of Ice Cube\u2019s first solo album, AmeriKKKa\u2019s Most Wanted<\/em>.\u00a0And while Ice Cube is doing a soundcheck, Chuck and I are just sitting in the arena, talking. And he says to me: ‘Yo, Big Jon, what are you going to do with your life? What’s next?’ And I say, ‘What do you mean? I’m the man here.’<\/p>\n

Chuck was sitting behind me, and I’ll never forget, he replies: ‘That’s what I’m talking about: every time I come to Denver, you’re the man here<\/em>. But unless you dream bigger, that’s all you’re ever going to be.’<\/p>\n

He starts giving me all these ideas, suggestions of things I could do in the music business. And the next day, I could not get that conversation out of my head. The seed was deeply planted. I went on the hunt for as much information as I could find about the music business.<\/p>\n

[Some important exposition: After his conversation with Chuck, young Jon eventually ended up in Los Angeles and was interviewed by Jody Gerson in 1995 for an A&R role at EMI Music Publishing. He got the job and in the years that followed Jon signed and worked with \u2013 to name a few \u2013 Jay-Z, Kanye West, Beyonc\u00e9, Drake, Usher, Snoop Dogg, Young Jeezy, Mary Mary, and Pharrell Williams.]<\/em><\/p>\n

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With Chuck D at SESAC’s awards in 2015 (Courtesy SMP\/Jon Platt)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
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<\/figure>3) Bohemian Rhapsody, Queen (1975) \/ Dreams, Fleetwood Mac (1977)<\/h6>\n

This one is a dual entry, and it takes me right back to my childhood.<\/p>\n

I was born in Philadelphia, but then we moved to Oakland, California until I was 10 or 11 years old. At the end of the fourth grade in Oakland, my mom told us we were moving to Denver. So, we drove to Denver, where my grandmother lived, and that became our new home. I remember that day like it was yesterday.<\/p>\n

Now, to give you some context, growing up in Oakland we were surrounded by Black people and Black culture. Two Black FM radio stations. Black music history; Sly & The Family Stone, Tower Of Power, The Pointer Sisters, etc.<\/p>\n

We move into this area called Aurora, a suburb of Denver, and it’s\u2026 not as diverse as we’re used to, to put it politely!<\/p>\n

Denver didn’t even have one Black FM radio station. It had a Black<\/em> AM radio station<\/em>, and at night the signal would get a little fuzzy.<\/p>\n

My siblings and I were enrolled in local schools, and we were now around a lot of white kids. My older brother starts hanging out with new friends and begins listening to rock music. And I remember asking him, ‘Why are you listening to that music?’<\/p>\n

Because when I heard it, it didn’t sound like the music I listened to growing up thus far.<\/p>\n

“Denver didn’t even have one Black FM radio station. It had a Black<\/em> AM radio station<\/em>, and at night the signal would get a little fuzzy.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

But the more he’d play these FM radio stations, and I continued to hear these songs, the more I began to like them, and get attached to them. And Queen, to this day, I just love them \u2013 probably my favorite band of all time.<\/p>\n

When I heard Bohemian Rhapsody for the first time, that was a game-changer. I was a kid at this point; this is long before Sucker M.C\u2019s<\/em> and It’s Like That<\/em>. But I knew [Bohemian Rhapsody] was a musical masterpiece. Queen was just so inventive; no two songs of theirs sounded the same.<\/p>\n

And then came the Fleetwood Mac with Landslide<\/em> and Rhiannon<\/em>, and then came the Rumours<\/em> album. Stevie Nicks and Christine McVie were just it<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I didn’t understand what learning to appreciate this music \u2013 and other bands, like Steve Miller Band, Jefferson Airplane, and lots of others \u2013 was teaching me at the time. But later in life, it all helped make me a well-rounded music executive.<\/p>\n

I am a music fan first, and I was lucky enough for music to become my career. Because of these early experiences, and throughout my journey in the music business, I realized I had a gear that some of my colleagues didn’t have.<\/p>\n

Queen, Fleetwood Mac, and others taught me that whatever preconception one might have; a hit song is a hit song \u2013 no matter the genre.<\/p>\n

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