{"id":50832,"date":"2018-10-12T16:01:18","date_gmt":"2018-10-12T15:01:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/?p=50832"},"modified":"2018-10-12T21:48:51","modified_gmt":"2018-10-12T20:48:51","slug":"hes-the-obama-of-the-music-industry-did-jay-z-just-announce-that-he-and-roc-nation-will-be-signing-to-jon-platts-sony-atv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/hes-the-obama-of-the-music-industry-did-jay-z-just-announce-that-he-and-roc-nation-will-be-signing-to-jon-platts-sony-atv\/","title":{"rendered":"‘He’s the Obama of the music industry’: Jay-Z pays tribute as Jon Platt collects Spirit Of Life Award"},"content":{"rendered":"

“He’s a beautiful human being. I’ve hitched my wagon to him my entire career… My contract is tied to his: if he leaves, I leave. Period.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On another occasion, the headline of this story could, and possibly should, have been the following: Did Jay-Z just confirm he and Roc Nation are leaving Warner\/Chappell to join Jon Platt at Sony\/ATV?<\/em><\/p>\n

Because last night (October 11) at the City Of Hope gala in Los Angeles – honoring outgoing Warner\/Chappell boss Platt with the prestigious Spirit Of Life award – that’s essentially what occurred.<\/p>\n

But what also<\/em> occurred was far more important than any music industry tittle-tattle could ever claim to be: a huge stack of money (approximately $6.5m, we hear) was raised for City Of Hope<\/a>, a cancer-fighting research and medical facility of which Platt said “they don’t know the meaning of the word impossible… it’s more than a hospital, it’s a family”.<\/p>\n

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Both touching and jaw-dropping tributes were paid to Platt on his big night. The former was epitomized by a humbled and mega-respectful speech about Platt by Jay-Z (aka Shawn Carter); the latter was epitomized by Carter’s wife, Beyonc\u00e9, whose show-stopping performance left the sold-out Barker Hanger in Santa Monica universally (small ‘u’) wowed.<\/p>\n

“Most people in the music business lead with their ego. Jon leads with his heart.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“This man is a CEO and Chairman,” said Jay-Z of Platt, who first signed him back in 1997. “He’s worked his way there. We all know the story: a Denver DJ with the Jheri curls. [Now] he’s the highest-ranking black executive in any global [music] company. He’s the Obama of the music industry.”<\/p>\n

Jay-Z’s comment about “where he goes, I go” left a room partly populated by Warner\/Chappell execs gasping as well as clapping.<\/p>\n

But, in the end, the widespread deference and affection in the building for Platt proved to be the biggest takeaway.<\/p>\n

Beyonc\u00e9 summed it up, telling her long-time publisher: “Most people in this industry lead with their ego. You lead with your heart.”<\/p>\n

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In-between Jay-Z’s address and Beyonc\u00e9’s performance came Platt’s own speech.<\/p>\n

Carter called Platt “a selfless human being and passionate person” before teasingly inviting his friend on stage as “the artist formerly known as Big Jon”.<\/p>\n

Platt didn’t waste any time in telling his friend exactly what he thought of him.<\/p>\n

“To Jay: for more than 20 years, your genius, your friendship, and your loyalty has helped define me in this industry,” said Platt.<\/p>\n

“From the bottom of my heart, I know for a fact that I wouldn’t be on this stage tonight if you hadn’t come into my life. Thank you for everything.”<\/p>\n

Scene set.<\/p>\n

There were largely three themes to Platt’s address on his big night: (i) The work of City Of Hope; (ii) Those friends, colleagues and family members who’d helped him get into the position he’s now in – which will see him become CEO and Chairman of Sony\/ATV early next year; and (iii) Diversity and inclusion in the music business – not merely for the sake of diversity and inclusion, but for the betterment of the industry and the people in it.<\/p>\n

“I began to think about how I could use this opportunity to share the spotlight with so many other people… with the culture that has supported and nurtured me,” said Platt. “I’d also be able to shine a light on a generation of executives I’ve grown up with in this industry, who are more than ready and willing to contribute to something bigger than ourselves.”<\/p>\n

He added: “It was very important to me, if I was going to do this, that we had to do it my way; meaning, I’m not going to be the only brother in this room – I’m bringing all my friends with me. And it was important to me it was black tie, because I wanted you to to see us at our best.<\/p>\n

“As an African-American CEO, I proudly embrace the responsibility to lend a helping hand to people of color.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

“Take a look around this room, completely sold out! I want you to remember what happens when you make a point to not exclude anybody – and actually include everybody.”<\/p>\n

He later commented: “As an African-American CEO, I proudly embrace the responsibility to lend a helping hand to people of color who are coming up in this industry, as well as to represent my friends and colleagues who are already doing good in this game.”<\/p>\n

He specifically name-checked the likes of Roc Nation’s Jay Brown, Motown’s Ethiopia Habtemariam, Apple’s Larry Jackson, Universal’s Jeff Harleston, Epic’s Sylvia Rhone, RCA’s Mark Pitts plus Quality Control’s Coach K and Pee.<\/p>\n

“We’re much more than just athletes and entertainers,” said Platt.<\/p>\n

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Platt lavished praise on City Of Hope, which has personal significance for the executive: as well as its efforts fighting cancer and HIV\/AIDS, the not-for-profit has taken a leading role in the fight against Type 1 Diabetes, which affects Platt’s own teenage son, Jonathan.<\/p>\n

“At a time in our country when so much is broken, it’s important that we focus on those who are doing great in the world; people who devote their lives to fixing what ills us, people saving lives,” said Platt of City Of Hope.<\/p>\n

“At a time in our country when so much is broken, it’s important that we focus on those who are doing great in the world.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There was also special praise for Platt’s wife, Angie, in addition to those “songwriters who represent diversity in all of its forms – as you continue to prove every day that genius does not discriminate”.<\/p>\n

Luminaries like Dr. Dre, Derek Fisher, Tiffany Haddish, Quincy Jones, Wiz Khalifa, Rita Ora, Bebe Rexha, Kelly Rowland, Timbaland, Justin Tranter, and Usher were in attendance.<\/p>\n

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Platt’s star-studded celebration, which kicked off with performances by Mary Mary and Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, culminated with the City Of Hope’s first-ever after-party, deejayed by Jermaine Dupri.<\/p>\n

Durpri was amongst those music business figures highlighted by Platt for having played a key role in his career to date. These names also included Chuck D, Steve Prudholme, Jody Gerson, Roger Faxon, Steve Cooper, Len Blavatnik and Martin Bandier.<\/p>\n

“Thank you for giving me the greatest gift you can ever give anybody: the opportunity to fail,” said Platt to his mentors and employers. “I made mistakes in my career, but each of those mistakes was valuable.”<\/p>\n

Platt also took a moment to tell Venture and Sussex Records legend, Clarence Avant, that he was “the closet thing to a father I ever had”.<\/p>\n

“I dreamed of running the largest music publishing company in the world one day.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

He then recalled his early years as a DJ in Denver, and attending a university event where Sean ‘Puffy’ Combs was speaking.<\/p>\n

“Puff said something which resonated with me: ‘Don’t be afraid to close your eyes and dream, then open your eyes to see it.'”<\/p>\n

Platt explained that, having been hired by Gerson at EMI Music Publishing and seen A&R success at the company, his ambitions began to broaden.<\/p>\n

“One day I saw Newsweek magazine, and on the cover it said ‘The New Black Power’. Pictured on there were [Time Warner exec] Dick Parsons, [Merrill Lynch exec] Stan O’Neal and [American Express exec] Ken Chenault. And I said, I want to be that<\/em>. I dreamed of being a CEO.<\/p>\n

“Then, I got bold in my dreams, and I’ll admit it to you tonight: I dreamed of running the largest music publishing company in the world one day. And a few weeks ago, I opened my eyes, and I could see it.”<\/p>\n

Platt, whose big night was hosted by Pharrell Williams, starts in that job in March 2019.<\/p>\n

You can expect his superstar friends – not least Hova – to be amongst the first calls he makes after landing in the hotseat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shawn Carter and Beyonc\u00e9 lead tributes to outgoing Warner\/Chappell boss<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":50836,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[1226,421,413,252],"class_list":["post-50832","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-city-of-hope","tag-jon-platt","tag-sonyatv","tag-warnerchappell"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50832","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50832"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50832\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.musicbusinessworldwide.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}