Lyor Cohen

Lyor Cohen(born October 3, 1959) is an American music industry executive and entrepreneur.  He has been actively involved inhip hopat various record labels for more than 30 years. He started by managing rappers for Rush Productions, then ledDef Jam.After Def Jam, Cohen took on a leadership role atWarner Music Group. In September 2012, Cohen resigned from Warner and started his own independent label,300 Entertainment. On September 28, 2016, Cohen was namedYouTube's Global Head of Music.
Cohen was born inNew York City, in 1959, toIsraeliimmigrants. He grew up inLos Angeles. In 1981, he earned a degree in global marketing and finance from theUniversity of Miami School of Businessat theUniversity of Miami.
After graduating from the University of Miami, he worked briefly in theBeverly Hillsoffice ofBank Leumi.
Late in 1984, after promoting a pair of rock and rap shows at The Mix Club in Hollywood (one featuredRun-DMC, the other featuredWhodini), Cohen moved to New York to take a job at Simmons' Rush Productions (later calledRush Artist Management). Beginning as Run-DMC's road manager, Cohen quickly began taking on additional responsibilities, working on behalf of an artist roster that includedKurtis Blow, Whodini, Run-DMC,LL Cool J, theBeastie Boys, andPublic Enemy. By 1987, Cohen himself was signing artists to Rush. These acts includedSlick Rick,DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince,Eric B. & Rakim,EPMD,Stetsasonic,De La Soul, andA Tribe Called Quest.
Cohen creditsJam Master Jaywith teaching him the basics of the music business. "[Jay] showed me how to settle shows and fulfill my responsibilities to the group," Cohen toldVibemagazine. "It's those lessons that I rely on daily to do what I do now." Before long, according toRolling Stone, Cohen "became known for his no-nonsense approach to business, his negotiating skill, his ability to forward the plot".It was Cohen who brokered Run-DMC's endorsement deal with Adidas, "one of the first big commercial deals for a rap group".This deal was followed by others that paired up Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince withLe Coq Sportif, LL Cool J with Troop sportswear, and Run-DMC withNew Coke.
By 1989, Rush—under Cohen's leadership—was recognized as "the premier management operation" in the Rap field.Steve Stoute, inThe Tanning of America, credits Cohen with "[believing] early on in the cultural melting pot that was being brewed for and by the younger generation".In his own words, Lyor Cohen has said, "I was determined to prove people wrong, to prove to the gatekeepers of the industry that we had a place here and we weren't going to relinquish our opportunity."
Cohen began transitioning from artist management to the label side of the music business in 1989, when he and Simmons formed Rush Associated Labels. The goal was to capitalize on the ability of established recording artists to sniff out new talent by signing boutique label deals with them. It paid off most notably with Jam Master Jay'sJMJ Records, which broughtOnyxto Def Jam in 1992 andJayo Felonyin 1994. By then Cohen was starting to groom a new generation of executives, notablyChris Lighty, Julie Greenwald,Kevin Liles,Todd Moscowitz, and Mike Kyser.
In 1994 Cohen teamed up with Simmons to negotiate Def Jam's departure fromSony(which had been distributing Def Jam since 1985) for a new home atPolyGram. By then, having become Simmons's partner in the label several years earlier, Cohen was running Def Jam day-to-day.(Rick Rubin, Def Jam's founder, had left Def Jam in 1988.)
UnderPolyGramand Cohen's leadership, Def Jam prospered.Cohen worked with a brand-new roster of successful rappers, likeRedman,Method Man,Jay-Z,DMX,Ja RuleandLudacris. Concurrently, Cohen oversaw custom label deals withRoc-A-Fella Records,Murder Inc.,Disturbing Tha Peace, and others.
In 1998, PolyGram was purchased bySeagram, and merged intoUniversal.
In June 1998, after PolyGram's merger with Universal Music and itsMCA-related label group,Island,Mercury, and Def Jam were merged into a new unit called theIsland Def Jam Music Group. Cohen was named co-president. In the process, he became (as he himself noted) "the first Hip-Hop president in charge of a major label".
This promotion required Cohen to expand his portfolio to include artists who didn't rap, among themBon Jovi,Mariah Carey,Shania Twain,Elvis Costello,Ashanti,Nickelback,Slipknot,Sum 41,The Killers, andSlayer. In 2001, Cohen was involved in Island Def Jam's purchase ofRoadrunner, a heavy-metal label, as well as the deal to distribute Rick Rubin'sAmerican. In 2002, American releasedJohnny Cash'sAmerican IV: The Man Comes Around. The last album released by Cash before his death, it included Cash's hit version ofTrent Reznor's "Hurt".
In January 2004, Cohen left Island Def Jam for a position with theEdgar Bronfman Jr.investor group-financed Warner, which was subsequently spun off fromTime Warner. Ultimately, Cohen was named WMG's chairman and chief executive.
By 2006, the positive effects of Cohen's leadership were encapsulated in a story forThe Los Angeles Times, which reported that, "Under Cohen, Warner Music has thrived, due in part to the executive's innovative initiatives, such as an incubator program that builds relationships with independent label executives the company aspires to hire."Warner's success withMike Jonesand the rock bandParamoreboth grew out of the incubator program.
At Warner, Cohen oversaw the merger of theAtlanticandElektralabels intoAtlantic, and placedJulie Greenwald, his protégée, into a top executive position there. In 2009, Cohen elevated Greenwald to chairman and chief operating officer of Atlantic, a promotion that established Greenwald as the highest-ranking woman executive at an American record company.Greenwald's successes at Atlantic have includedThe Black Keys,Bruno Mars,Death Cab for Cutie,Jason Mraz,Kid Rock,Lupe Fiasco,Plies,T.I., andWiz Khalifa.  He resigned from Warner   in September 2012.
In September 2006, Cohen oversaw an agreement withYouTubethat allowed the site to show videos by Warner artists in exchange for a share of YouTube's advertising revenue. According toThe New York Times, the deal marked "the first time a major record company [had] licensed content to YouTube".In 2011, Cohen oversaw an agreement on behalf of the Warner roster withSpotify, the digital music service.Eventually, Cohen oversaw all of Warner's digital initiatives.
There was much speculation about Cohen's next move.Cohen's own assessment of his career was broadly predictive. "I've been an outsider in the traditional record industry for more than 25 years," he told theLos Angeles Times. "I'm an entrepreneur, so I encourage risk-taking. And the only way to encourage risk-taking is to take risks yourself, which means sometimes you'll fail, or people will say you are too aggressive or controversial. But someone needs to jump into the pool first for a party to get really great. I've always been willing to be that guy."In November 2013, Cohen revealed he was starting a new company named "300", after the300 Spartan Warriorswho fought the famous war against the Persians seen in the movie300. He stated the company would be part record label, part marketing company, part distributor, with major backing fromGoogleandAtlantic.
In September 2016, Google's YouTube announced Cohen would be joining the organization as Global Head of Music. He officially joined the company in December 2016. He wrote a public letter stating some of his goals and aspirations for his new role.
Cohen is currently on the board of theRock and Roll Hall of Fame, and is an acting Director for the New York-based charitable organizationBoys & Girls Harbor.
Some of Cohen's closest associates have included his longtime friend and business partnerRussell Simmons,Jay Z,music executiveJulie Greenwald,Jon Bon Jovi,andKanye West, who dubbed himself "the Lyor Cohen of Dior Homme" on a 2010 recordingDevil in a New Dress.
Cohen met his first wife, E.K. Smith, during the recording of the music video for "(You Gotta) Fight for Your Right (To Party!)" by theBeastie Boys.Cohen's marriage to his second wife, Amy, ended in divorce in 2006. They have a daughter, Bea, and a son, Az.Cohen credits Az, along with a personal friend, with saving his life when Cohen experienced a pulmonary embolism duringN.W.A's induction into theRock and Roll Hall of Fameat Brooklyn'sBarclays Centerin April 2016.
In August 2016, Cohen remarried, wedding art world personality Xin Li, a Chinese former basketball player and model who is currently the deputy chairman ofChristie'sAsia.
In January 2003 the offices ofMurder Inc. Recordsat Island Def Jam were raided by a joint task force of theNYPDand theFBIas part of a federal probe of label founderIrv Gotti'sties to drug lordKenneth "Supreme" McGriff.Of particular interest to authorities was an Island Def Jam payment of $500,000 to a company fronted by McGriff. In 2005, Gotti was acquitted of all charges, as was Cohen, who had also testified.
In 2002, Cohen was personally sued for fraud, tortious interference, breach of contract and copyright infringement byTVT Recordsas part of a larger action against Island Def Jam Music Group and Universal Music Group. The suit alleged that Cohen tried to hinder the production and release of an album by Ja Rule's group, the Cash Money Click. Initially, the defendants were ordered to pay TVT $132 million in compensatory and punitive damages, with $56 million due personally from Cohen.On appeal that figure was substantially reduced. Ultimately, TVT was awarded $126,720 for a breach of contract claim.