
84
MIKE CAREN, 40
Founder/CEO, Artist Partner Group
Last Year’s Rank: 85
ACHEIVEMENTS OF THE YEAR: Under Caren’s leadership, Artist Publishing Group — its roster includes Kehlani, Kevin Gates and ARIZONA — landed 22 tracks on the Hot 100 in 2017, earning 1 percent of streaming market share in the fourth quarter. “I’m very proud,” says the A&R executive, publisher and studio head.
MARKETING BEYOND MUSIC: The alum of New York University’s Stern School of Business spearheaded the launch of EMERGE, a nationwide, social media-driven talent-search competition with support from AEG Presents, Deckstar Artist Management, Deutsche and Spotify; and Charlie Puth’s immersive Los Angeles exhibit, “The Attention Room,” to promote his “Attention” single. The latter earned over 75 million impressions during its 10-day stint. “It was a wild card,” says Caren. “I appreciated all of the creativity Charlie contributed and the trust he gave us to try it.”