This week In the Hot Seat with Larry LeBlanc: Ashlee Gibbs, Dir. of Operations/GM, Prescription Songs/Amigo Records.
Lukasz “Dr. Luke” Gottwald founded the independent publishing powerhouse Prescription Songs 14 years ago, and launched its affiliated label Amigo Records 7 years ago.
Sparkplug facilitator Ashlee Gibbs oversees day-to-day administration of the Prescription Songs/Amigo Records offices in Los Angeles and Nashville with a staff of 25, and an unconfirmed roster of an estimated 100 plus songwriters.
Gibbs is a former senior operations specialist for financial services companies working in Florida, and later in both Las Vegas and Los Angeles, before being approached by Gottwald to join the music publishing company and record label in 2017.
Prescription Songs has had a lengthy non-country relationship with Nashville. From 2013 to 2017, the publisher and Big Machine Music had a joint venture to co-publish songwriters there.
In 2016, Prescription Songs opened its own “Music City” office, helmed by Katie Mitzell Fagan, to invest in the city’s non-country scene. High-powered A&R executive Mitzell Fagan is also co-founder of The Other Nashville Society, an industry group for non-country professionals and artists.
While music publishing remains one of the more stable sides of the music business, like all other sectors it has been transformed in recent years by an ever-evolving global network of digital music platforms, and streaming services.
At the same time, as major labels consolidated, downsized, and then stripped away their marketing and distribution services, music publishers like Prescription Songs have greatly expanded in order to oversee intellectual property creation, and branding strategies while wholly committing to the long-term talent development of their songwriting rosters.
Among Prescription Songs’ many, many triumphs have been: Doja Cat (“Say So”; Kim Petras (“Unholy” with Sam Smith); Lauren LaRue (Arizona Zervas’ “Roxanne”); KbeaZy (“That’s What I Want” for Lil Nas; Fridayy contributing to DJ Khaled’s “God Did” with Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, Rick Ross, and John Legend; Emily Warren who has co-written a dozen Billboard Hot 100 entries including for such artists as Meghan Trainor, Lizzo, James Blunt, the Chainsmokers, and Dua Lipa; LU KALA featured on Atlanta rapper Latto’s 2023 international pop-rap hit “Lottery”; and SNOW WIFE, named as one of Spotify’s Pop Rising Artists To Watch for 2024.
In recent months Prescription Songs has signed: Singer/songwriter and pianist Greyson Chance; singer/songwriter/producer Heather Russell; songwriter Kola Adigun; rapper/singer Payday; songwriter Morgan Nagler; the songwriting and production team Play-N-Skillz–brothers Juan “Play” Salinas and Oscar “Skillz”; songwriter, producer, mixer and multi-instrumentalist Tony Esterly; producer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist Cooper Holzman; country artist/songwriter Scoot Teasley; and soul-inspired pop artist and songwriter Josie Dunne.
Among the recent Prescription Songs partnerships are the signings of Miami-based artist and songwriter Aloisio, and Miami-based songwriter, producer, and artist JayM through fellow Prescription songwriter DallasK; the signing of artist/songwriter bülow via Emily Warren’s publishing arm Under Warranty; and, in partnership with Kobalt Music Group, the signing of songwriter/artist/producer Anderson East.
Prescription Songs/Amigo Records is one of the great music publishing and label enterprises. It appears to be a great place to work.
I agree with you, yes.
After director of operations was added to your GM job title, Katie Mitzell Fagan, the company’s head of A&R Nashville, said, “Ashlee is the glue that holds us all together. The systems she has established to keep our company working smarter, not harder, at all times, have expedited our growth as a whole.”
So your role is more administrative than creative?
I am mainly here for the admin purpose, and also for any operations standpoint, and for entire plans too. When Luke approached me, the first thing that he said was, “I don’t want the staff micromanaged.” I was brought in with a certain skill, and I have increased my skills being here, and with having the team that we have.
Prescription, we are just young, and we will continue to grow and learn, and keep trying to be the best company that we can at all times.
What specifically do you bring to Prescription Songs/Amigo Records?
When I think of the company, I think of someone for the staff, right? Because the A&Rs are the creatives, and they are there for their writers. I was brought on just to be a support for the staff, and obviously to be a support for the writers with admin work. But, at the end of the day, I am here just to make sure that people know where to go if they need something. If it’s anything like that I am always here. I feel privileged that I get to do that. I wouldn’t be here for 7 years if I didn’t.
Your financial services background is a tremendous resource to bring to a music publishing company and label in that you can drill down and analyze where to allocate resources, and also determine where and when to cut back. Not many people in the music industry have your level of financial proficiency.
Creative people in the entertainment industries will often spend the bank to attain what they want; whereas someone from a financial background will say, “Hey, I think that’s a real great idea, but we need to work this out more or do it another way.”
You can provide an unmatched restraint at times whereas a creative might argue, “No, let’s roll the dice. Let’s go.”
I have never felt more seen and heard at a compay than I do here. That is obviously a testament to Luke and what he has built with his executives like Rhea (Head of A&R West Coast Rhea Pastricha), Katie, Bryan Trenis (Head of Finance), Megan (VP Creative Synch Megan Wood-Petersen), Sara (Senior VP Creative Synch Sara Walker), and Diana (senior VP of Business Affairs Diana Sanders). I speak with each of them all of the time. So to be seen and heard in that capacity is amazing at a company. I don’t know any other company that I’d feel that. Being seen and heard all of the time.
With his ongoing production demands Luke can’t obviously oversee the company day to day. It’s impressive, however, that many of your songwriters describe him as being readily available as a career adviser and as a creative sounding board when needed.
We have a staff meeting every two weeks, and he’s part of that. He is very much part of our staff. So when he’s intervening or talking to the A&Rs daily, they give him updates. He’s very intertwined with our staff, which is great. He’s maybe not in the office every day. He’s in the studio, but he’s great at just keeping up to date with the writers of the company, and A&R. They are comfortable going to him.
The close personal attention by Prescription Songs/Amigo Records staff to its writers, artists and producers is well known in the industry.
Working here has been, and is great, around the company that Luke built along with Rhea, Katie, and Sara, the founding people who have been here for a long time. Rhea has been here for 11 years. Katie has been here for 13 years. If you have that many people who have been here for a reason, Luke is obviously part of that; and, of course, the company and the executives that run it are phenomenal.
Since your arrival in 2017, the company’s staff has almost tripled.
We are now at 32 including myself.
How much staff are in the Los Angeles and Nashville offices?
In Nashville, we have 7 staff, all within the A&R department. We have one person who is not in the Los Angles or Nashville offices. That’s Bryan Trenis, our CFO. He’s in New York. He will come out to L.A. and Nashville to visit us and be here and there with our staff. We brought him in four years this November. It has been such a positive reinforcement to have him on the staff because he handles all royalty statements, and all of the things that come with being the CFO. He was the best addition and he’s such a great guy too.
You entered the music business from a decade-long career as senior operations specialist for financial services companies in Florida, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles.
They had wanted to bring on someone to be office manager and make sure the staff was happy. To make sure that the office was running smoothly. When Luke talked to me, he said, “You come from a different background than anyone else we have hired here.” He liked my sense of music. I liked punk and I was a little more gritty, and that is something that you don’t find every day in someone who works in corporate financial services.
As a self-proclaimed punk rock fan, you got to wear the T-shirt of the Orange County band the Descendants at work.
Yes, yes, all pretty wild things. But it’s fun here. We do little staff things all of the time with our company. Whether it’s a bowling night or going to a holiday party to Universal Studios Hollywood and doing all the rides together. That sounds cheesy but we have ribbons for our bowling tournament.
How did Luke know about you to hire you in 2017?
My husband Clint…
Of course. As chief engineer and technical advisor, Clint is notable for being “Luke’s right hand.” He’s another original Prescription Songs employee.
Clint is the longest running Prescription person at this point. He and Katie started within three months of each other. I have been with my husband for 11 years now, and we will be 8 years married in October (2024). I met him prior to working at Prescription. I knew Luke because of Clint working for him; from company events that you could bring your spouse or your partner.
A veteran mix engineer Chris Gibbs specializes in Dolby Atmos immersive sound that places and moves sounds in three dimensions–all around the listener. He mixes for artists on the Prescription Songs roster and others outside the company including mixing both the original version of “Say So” and the remix for Nicki Minaj. He has also notably mixed tracks on recordings by Doja Cat, Kim Petras, LU KALA, Latto (formerly known as Mulatto), Saweetie and Crosses, Bonnie McKee, Banjee Girls, and the Kid Laroi.
Clint is having a very good year.
Yes. He’s very dedicated. He still does work here. He’s still Luke’s right hand. He’s across everything here as one of the engineers, and then he works for himself at night. After our daughter goes to bed, he mixes. He’s not afraid to work all hours sometimes, but he still has time to put our daughter to bed every night. Work has not affected that which is great.
Didn’t your parents warn you not to marry a musician?
(Laughing) He’s better than the last guy I was with, so my mom is very happy.
How old is your daughter now?
She is four. She was born two weeks into COVID, and our lockdown at the company. I’ve got to say Prescription as a whole, particularily during COVID, I think really shined in that we kept our employees safe. We tried to make sure that everyone was taken care of. No one was laid off during that time. There was nothing that happened that we had to let anyone go. I think that we all figured out how to work successfully remote, and still today we are able to work remote at times. I’m not in the office every day, but I talk to the staff every day, all day.
You jumped from a career as senior operations specialist for financial services companies in Florida, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles where you had moved in 2013. That’s quite a jump to then to work in entertainment.
It was a lot of learning for me coming into the music industry, really learning it, and understanding it. But yes, it was a transition, and it was a cool transition really. Looking back, it was a really cool transition.
When Luke came to me, he said, “Do you want to do this?” I was like, “Well I have a job.” I took a month to think about it because I was leaving a job, and it was secure. But I quit my job and started here in May of 2017.
You had worked in financial services for your entire working career.
I started at Kovack Securities, Inc. when I was 18 as a receptionist, and after two weeks they asked me to stay on to be support for their financial advisors. It is a security company. We did a lot with stocks, mutual funds, and bonds. I worked there for 6 years and then I moved back to Vegas, and figured out what I was doing.
You had a corporate mindset: An understanding of technical analysis, asset allocation, and advising on long-term and short-term purchases?
Yeah, I found that I liked the stock market, and those kinds of loans at financial services. It was interesting, and I was good at it. I was good at the admin work of it and working with financial advisors. Sometimes it could sound like it was a little intimidating with the financial advisors, especially the higher tier ones, but I enjoyed it for the time that that I did it.
You were born in Pennsauken, New Jersey that I know is home of the Double Nickel Brewing company which makes Maple syrup-bourbon-barrel aged brown ale among its line of beers.
(Laughing) I dId not know that. I moved from there years ago. I spent my teenage years in Las Vegas.
What work did your parents do?
Well my mom worked for Digital Computers (Digital Equipment Corporation) which turned into HP Computers (Hewlett-Packard or HP) for 35 years. My stepfather owned a car dealership. So we moved from New Jersey, and the Delaware area to Las Vegas for opportunities for my dad. My mom worked from home, So we were able to live in Las Vegas.
Digital Equipment Corporation, using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. At its peak in the late 1980s, DEC had $14 billion in sales and ranked among the most profitable companies in America. In 1998, the company was sold to Compaq in the largest merger up to that time in the computer industry. Compaq was then acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 2002.
What is it like being raised as a teenager in Las Vegas and having access to so much entertainment locally?
It’s fantastic because you get away with a lot of shenanigans. My teenage years were definitely filled with more shenanigans, and more places to go to than probably most. So going to a movie or going to the Strip for a concert, anything like that was cool. I would never trade my Vegas childhood or teenagehood for anything. I think that it made me who I am, and for me to be adventurous.
Like watching those recent CNN series ads for “Vegas Sin City” that proclaimed, “You don’t know something is illegal in Vegas until you do it.” Or the dated, “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”
Vegas has changed so much too. When I was living there, they didn’t have a hockey team (the Vegas Golden Knights) and they didn’t have the Raiders (the Las Vegas Raiders of the National Football League). They didn’t have all these fancy new things. So I still like the divier parts of Vegas. Punk bars. That’s the grittiness of Vegas, and it is what I still love.
You took special courses while you were working in Florida. Did you go to college?
I attempted to. I had a full-time job at 18, and I went to night classes for two years in Florida, and it just wasn’t working out for me.
Didn’t you later enroll at Los Angeles City College, the LACC, for the Extension Program?
Yeah, there was a brief time that I wanted to be a teacher. I said, “I’ll be back.”
You lived in Fort Lauderdale during the time that spring breakers came in hundreds of thousands, overwhelming the city with their sun-scathed beachside carousing.
Fort Lauderdale was an interesting time, and an interesting place. I never thought that I would live in Florida, but I did.
Let’s return to talking Prescription Songs/Amigo Records
Diana Sanders joined as senior VP of Business Affairs in 2022.
Throughout her extensive career, she has represented music artists and other entertainers, talent management firms, and industry executives in entertainment-related transactions as well as litigations involving copyrights, trademarks, and rights of privacy.
A graduate of Fordham University School of Law cum laude, and Saint John’s University, summa cum laude, Sanders began her legal career as an associate at Chadbourne & Parke in New York. She moved to Los Angeles in 2014, and has worked at Thompson Coburn LLP, DLA Piper LLP and as partner at Russ August & Kabat LLP, and co-chair of its Music Practice Group.
Billboard recognized Sanders in its 2020 and 2022 “Women in Music Executives” lists, and in its 2021 and 2022 “Top Music Lawyers” lists. She was additionally honored by Variety magazine in 2021 as one of “Hollywood’s New Leaders.” She has been selected a “Super Lawyer Rising Star” by Los Angeles Magazine every year since 2018, and named by her peers to the 2021, 2022, and 2023 Best Lawyers in America, “Ones to Watch” lists.
Being a genuine legal superstar, Diana was quite a catch for the company.
Diana is definitely a superstar. She’s our business affairs, and she’s across all the deals and anything legal. I work in tandem with her and Bryan. We are costing together, and she’s doing all of the legal things. Our company is so much better with her, and I adore her personally. Her work ethic is great. She is always working and doing a great job.
What I love about her, and about our company, is that she’s not just about being a legal person in the office. Everyone, all of the A&Rs and anyone in the company, can go to her, and ask her questions about deals, and ask her about anything in general for publishing. It is outstanding to have her here.
Another in-house superstar is Jillian Rutstein overseeing synch licensing, social media platforms, and marketing at the companies. She started at the company in 2014 as receptionist and was Dir. Creative Synch & Digital before being promoted to Senior Dir., Digital Marketing & Creative Synch last year.
Jillian led the company’s digital marketing strategy for LU KALA’s “Pretty Girl Era.” Everything then changed for LU KALA with her self-empowerment anthem that was released in 2023. Produced by Dr. Luke. the track–with an estimated 19 million streams on Spotify—cemented her status as a major artist to reckon with and led to her performing at the 2023 Billboard Women in Music Awards, and even snagging a Times Square billboard.
So Jillian is obviously a very important part of the company.
Yes. I talk with Jillian multiple times a day because I work on the Amigo side as well, and she is doing a lot of the digital marketing on the label side. She’s been here 10 years in April. Her success, and her story are very cool. To see her here for 10 years, starting off as a receptionist, and then building her career here, that is quite a feat. She is such a great part of this company. She loves her staff, and the staff trusts her too.
Amigo Records launched in 2017, and has had several formidable successes, following the run of Luke’s Kemosabe Records, a joint venture Sony Music Entertainment, ended in 2016, when Sony distanced itself from Luke after he had signed Kesha, Doja Cat, Becky G, Juicy J, Lil Bibby, Yelle, and Bonnie McKee.
What was the initial rationale in having Amigo Records as an in-house label? Was it because it is problematic to develop a songwriter or a songwriter/producer, and then have them release music on outside labels? Yes, Prescription Songs would still have its publishing share from, but it’s far more profitable to retain the songwriter as an artist too.
From my understandings is that we had a lot of our publishing clients that wanted to have artist contracts, and they had songs that they wanted to have released, and it (Amigo) was a great venture for them to do that. It is really their own label.
Do many of your songwriters want to be artists as well or are they content being songwriters and, maybe, producers?
I think it’s a “follow your next step” (attitude). We don’t have a crazy huge roster. It’s probably a little split, and whatever they want to do we support. And that’s when they sit down with the A&Rs, and the most we can ask for is how supportive our A&Rs are.
With a label there’s a different system perimeter than being just a music publisher. Songwriters and songwriter artists have different priorities. With songwriters the emphasis is on placements, and synch opportunities, but add in an artist element, and there’s increased marketing development needed.
Right, exactly. Our writers are like, “I really want to put this out,” and we are like, “Cool, let’s do it.” And it’s been great. I have been on the Amigo side since 2018, and Jillian is full-time now for Amigo. working with SNOW WIFE, LU KALA, Joy Oladokun, lil aaron, Birksie, Ethel Cain, Lourdiz, Big Boss Vette, and others. They are all writers for Prescription as well. Jillian is working every day talking to artists directly. She has such a solid relationship with the artists which is obviously very important for us as a label too.
If you have jumped on any other social media platform in the past 18 months, SNOW WIFE’s addictive, rebellious breakout Amigo pop single “American Horror Show” would surely have grabbed your attention.
From her momentous 2023 debut EP “Queen Degenerate,” developed with her close collaborators Slush Puppy and Jason Hahs, “American Horror Show” has attained over 50 million streams, resulting in SNOW WIFE being named one of Spotify’s Pop Rising Artists To Watch for 2024.
I also just love her follow-up singles “Wet Dream” and my song of this summer, “Pool.”
LU KALA and SNOW WIFE are both having their successes now. They have been signed for a year or two, but we have had other people signed too for awhile like Lourdiz who is featured on Nicki Minaj song “Cowgirl” on her latest album. Lourdiz was also on Saweetie’s “Back Seat” in 2021.
For a company so closely associated with pop and rap, Prescription has an impressive handful of less commercially inclined songwriters like Ethel Cain, Joy Oladokun, Vancouver Sleep Clinic, and Dave Thomas Junior.
Ethel Cain, the Southern Gothic, Americana dream pop singer, signed with the company four years ago.
Ethel was a great signing, and I loved her artist project (the concept album “Preacher’s Daughter” centered around the life of a Southern Baptist girl that dreamt of escaping her small town). I loved “American Teenager.” A phenomenal song. That song gives you many feelings when you listen to it.
Ethel grew up in a Southern Baptist, Tallahassee, Florida household, and has been deeply involved with her faith from a young age.
Ethel Cain is fantastic. She’s super talented, and I love all what she does. I really enjoy watching clips of her performing at festivals. Her fans are so incredibly engaged.
Joy Oladokun is amazing too.
Joy has had a lot of success with syncs as well as the singles that she has put out. She’s really had amazing success. Our synch department really is so great with Joy.
Among Joy Oladokun’s prominent syncs have been on “CSI: Vegas,” “This Is Us,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “And Just Like That,” and “Station 19,” and Showtime’s “The L Word: Generation Q.”
I really took notice of her in 2023 with her album “Proof of Life” which she co-produced with Mike Elizondo, Ian Fitchuk, and Dan Wilson. Two of the standouts tracks I recall being “Sweet Symphony” with Chris Stapleton, and “We’re All Gonna Die,” featuring Noah Kahan.
The first-generation daughter of Nigerian immigrants, and a proud queer Black person, Oladokun grew up in Arizona. She has appeared onstage at Bonnaroo, Hangout, Lollapalooza, the Newport Folk Festival and Ohana Festival, and on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,” PBS’s “Austin City Limits,” and NPR Music’s “Tiny Desk (Home) Concert,” and other TV shows.
On Dec. 13th, 2022. Oladokun performed along with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C, Sam Smith and Cyndi Lauper at the Respect for Marriage Act signing ceremony hosted by President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris on the South Lawn of the White House.
As well on the roster there’s the openly transgender German superstar singer Kim Petras.
Oh yes. To see Kim play at The Abbey in West Hollywood in 2018—6 years ago— and then see her win a Grammy. It is the coolest experience seeing someone climb all the way to the top. From The Abbey, performing a small show, and having the best time performing with Sam Smith, and winning a Grammy, which is just unbelievable.
At the 65th Annual Grammy Awards held at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles on Feb. 5th, 2023, Petras and Smith won the Best Pop Duo/Group Performance award for “Unholy.” “Unholy” was released in September 2022 through EMI Records and Capitol Records as the second single from Smith’s 5th studio album “Gloria” (2023), and as a bonus track on Petras’s 2023 debut studio album “Feed the Beast.”
Kim and Sam performed a mind-blowing Grammy performance of their smash collaboration of “Unholy” while as right-wing influencers fumed that Sam had appeared onstage dressed like the devil.
While Prescription Songs/Amigo Records releases certainly do attain radio airplay, the company isn’t dependent on the medium for its successes.
No. We have our amazing film and TV department, and obviously we have A&R opportunities outside of that to introduce to the writers. So we definitely don’t have to depend on radio for success.
Attaining synch placements for The Super Bowl, Frito Lay, Sephora, Apple, and BMW, HBO’s “Generation,” and Netflix’s “Dark and Lucifer” are like hitting home runs.
Yes. Jillian, Siara Behar, and Megan work their tails off. Megan has been here over 10 years too as a part of the sync department.
The company is loaded with A&R personnel.
Yes, we do have a lot of A&R. So all of our writers have someone. They have support. We are A&R heavy, but I think that goes along with how creative our roster is and how much support that we can give.
How does Prescription find creative talent, and develop it so well? The traditional way was to discover acts performing in clubs. Much of the talent on your roster are songwriters and songwriters/producers and multi-instrumentalists, like Tony Esterly and Cooper Holzman.
(Prescription Songs A&R executive) Chris Martignago signed Tony Esterly, and Prescription Songs A&R executives Nick Guilmette. and Hannah Montgomery both signed Cooper Holzman. Those were relationships that they had. Our A&R really create relationships with these kinds of writers from the start before they really have anything.
I understand that if a Prescription A&R executive is interested in moving forward with a signing, they will usually put the writer in sessions with others in the company’s roster in order to evaluate their work ethic, skill set, and even personal character.
Sometimes a writer may have already had success, and the A&R have had relationships with them for awhile or someone with someone from their management or from their team.
Do your A&R reps try to first get support of their A&R peers, and other staff in a signing?
It’s been very collaborative. Sara and Rhea are always talking about things they want to bring in and then they chat with Luke.
Luke has a strong A&R background as a songwriter, producer and mixers. Was it his specific strategy to have that high level of A&R in the company?
I think so, but it is also Katie and Rhea wanting to make sure that the more we sign the more staff that we have to be able to support each writer fully. Each A&R has their own roster, and we don’t want to overwhelm them to the point that they can’t service each writer. So it’s very important I think to Luke, Katie and Rhea to have enough A&R support to really support those writers that are on each roster.
So Luke stays involved with the writers?
Luke is very much involved. The team is involved. As I said we have so many meetings including meetings that are across everything, and everybody takes part. At the end of the day we are a team, so everything is very fluid. It’s a great place to bring someone that you want to sign.
With the COVID-19 pandemic did the rate of signing slow down? You seem to be on a signing spree of late.
We were very much similar doing that during COVID. Obviously, I think that part of 2020 was definitely for everyone a kind of, “What’s happening?” and “Where are we going?” for everyone in general. But we did thrive in 2021 and 2022 and continue to now. So we were signing a good number of people in those years too. I think the PR side of it, maybe, we didn’t have Alex (Alexandra Greenberg of Falcon Publicity) onboard yet.
On many of the songs in your catalog there are 4 or 5 songwriters involved. They can work in home studios and are in the position to use stems in recording tracks. A decade ago they’d likely work at an outside recording studio or at a studio within a publisher’s office. L.A. is so spread out that during the COVID-19 period, it was natural for your writers and staff to work from home, and you didn’t have to shut down.
Our A&Rs learned to cope with working during COVID. I was on maternity leave for three months before returning, and everybody learned to Zoom really quickly. Also we were changing culture completely, where people had to really migrate to video. I think that our staff did it (the change) beautifully, and they helped us make the transition too for that period of time.
The company also benefits from the songwriters on the roster bringing in other talent into the Prescription Songs family. I’m thinking of Miami-based artist and songwriter DallasK being pivotal in bringing in Aloisio (Christian Aloisio), and JayM (Juan Romero). Your roster connects with people who are working with others in the industry, and they bring in what impresses them to your A&R staff.
I’m impressed that DallasK’s relationship with Prescription Songs goes back almost a decade.
Yeah, and it’s a very positive one (relationship) too, and that’s probably why he brings us the talent that he does and to the A&Rs, Siara being one of DallasK’s A&R, they work very close together, and her working with JayM has been fantastic. DallasK has such a great track record. And I’ve worked with him personally across emails and stuff, and he’s just a lovely person. He’s a very positive guy to have on our roster for sure.
The nature of pop music today is collaborative with songwriters writing and producing with two or three others. If a Prescription Songs’ songwriter is impressed working with a developing songwriter or producer, they are going to tell your staff. As compared to going out to see someone perform in a club, you have songwriters in collaborative relationships.
I know 100%. And I know for Rhea, it is so important. A&R has multiple meetings a week together where they are talking. I think it’s a testament that all of our A&Rs they don’t always come in (to the office). They talk. They communicate with each other. If they have someone that they like, they will ask, “What do you think?” They are always working collaboratively. They are always talking about who is in the session, and who they are meeting in the sessions with their writers. It’s very collaborative, and very creative at the company for sure.
Los Angeles today is what New York City was in the 1950s, an unrivaled entertainment capital. There’s so much crossover with music, film and TV, gaming, and sports sectors that attracts people with different backgrounds and disciplines.
It is interesting learning a lot about this industry going backwards. As a consumer of music I know what I like. Coming here and learning the past of how thing things worked prior to the general music industry, I didn’t know a lot of this stuff. So it’s always cool to learn and understand it.
How often did you come out of your office prior to COVID when you heard music that appealed to you saying, “Hey, play that again. I want to hear that.”
It used to happen a lot. When we were in the office prior to COVID, Rhea’s office was right next door to mine. So you can only imagine the hits that Rhea was playing that I could hear though the wall. I would pop into her office, “Hey what is that? I love that.” And she was always like, “I love hearing that from you” because I’m not in A&R. I am a consumer. I don’t listen to the music as an A&R. I have different ears, Hearing stuff is amazing, especially hearing what it becomes like with an Emily Warren.
Your A&R teams deal with musics you’d previously wouldn’t be associated with in any way. It’s not music that comes naturally to you. Not with your background.
It’s funny but I was talking to Siara who has a grasp of the Latin world. I love regional Mexican music, and especially the group Grupo Firme (based in Tijuana, Baja California). I was telling her, and she asked, “Do you understand what they are saying.” I was like, “Actually no I don’t know what they are saying at all, but I can feel it. I can feel what they are saying.” She couldn’t believe it. She was shocked. “I didn’t know that you loved them.” I said, “Yeah I really love regional Mexican music.” That kind of music really resonates with me.
Regional Mexican is a big umbrella term as a music genre as so many sub-genres have become more mainstream in America. The sub-genres are mostly due to geography and different cultures. Regional Mexican acts like Grupo Firme, Los Angeles Azules, and Banda MS have performed at Coachella and other American festivals. Grupo Firme’s 32-date “La Última Peda Tour” that roughly translates to, “The Last Drunken Party” is currently touring the U.S.
Despite Mexican culture being very rich, it has long been marginalized in American media coverage. Los Tigres del Norte, whom corrido scholars consider the Rolling Stones of norteño music, played on a Berkeley Folk Festival bill in California in 1970 alongside Big Brother & the Holding Company, Big Mama Thornton, Joy of Cooking, and Nick Gravenites.
Today there is just so much music to lock into.
It’s true, and that is what I love. I get to experience all of that through our sync and A&R departments. I see Emails about certain songs or get to see part of certain styles and I hear demos of these songs; or in a staff meeting hearing certain things, and it’s cool. It’s a cool job for them (A&R executives) to have but I like being an observer from the outside which is cool too.
Do you have agreements with other publishers around the world or do you license direct?
We are admined by Kobalt. (Kobalt Music Group).
Despite many of your songwriters and artists collaborating with international acts like Dua Lipa, Sam Smith and others, Prescription Songs/Amigo Records is mostly US-centric. You don’t have offices outside the U.S. Will that change?
You never know. A large portion of our writers are here in the United States but quite a few in Canada, the UK, Australia other territories. Spellz is from Nigeria. Shae Jacobs is from London, but his family is from Nigeria, and Bantu is from Zimbabwe. LU KALA is from Canada.
LU KALA (Lusamba Vanessa Kalala) born in Kinshasa (formerly named Léopoldville) the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, has been in the music industry for over a decade. She started off writing songs for other artists. A decade ago, she co-wrote “Dangerous” with DVSN (singer Daniel Daley and producer Nineteen85), and Stephen “Koz” Kozmeniuk that was recorded by Jennifer Hudson. She was featured on Atlanta rapper Latto’s 2023 international pop-rap hit “Lottery.” When Latto’s team heard a hook that LU KALA had written in 2022, they called her to sing the chorus.
The company prides itself on advancing the careers of women in the music industry, and roughly two-thirds of its employees are female.
However If I didn’t mention Luke’s controversial dispute with Kesha many would wonder why I didn’t.
Kesha released five albums, including her blockbuster 2010 debut “Animal,” and three EPs through Kemosabe. in 2014, she filed a lawsuit accusing Luke of sexual assault and emotional abuse and she sought to be released from her Kemosabe Record’s contract. Luke vehemently denied her accusations, and simultaneously sued for defamation and breach of contract.
The multiple lawsuits stretched over nearly a decade, but were settled out of court in June 2023. Kesha’s deal with Kemosabe ended seven months after her delivery of “Gag Order,” her final contractually obligated album for Kemosabe Records.
Kesha wrote in her statement accompanying the settlement, “Only God knows what happened that night. As I always said, I cannot recount everything that happened. I am looking forward to closing the door on this chapter of my life and beginning a new one. I wish nothing but peace to all parties involved.”
In a fitting way to ring the recent Independence Day, Kesha dropped her new single “Joyride,” marking her first release as an indie artist since parting with Kemosabe Records.)
Other collaborators in support of Kesha spoke quite negatively about their experiences working with Luke Ethel Cain stated in her 2023 Rolling Stone interview that she would not have signed to the company had she been aware of Luke’s involvement.
Have you had similar responses from other Prescription Songs writers or staff?
No, honestly, we haven’t.
We live in a cancel culture era and often people don’t recover from such an accusation.
It’s all unfortunate. I can only say that my time with Luke, and at Prescription has been a positive experience.
Was it a difficult transition for you to pick up all the subtleties, and the intricacies of music publishing coming into Prescription?
No and yes. No because I pick up things, and I like to learn, and I ask a lot of questions. But the 7 years that I’ve spent in this company, and in the business, things just change so quickly too, and I feel like I learn something new every day which is something that I think is great at this company. I can ask Brian a question. I can ask Diana a question. I can ask Rhea and Katie creative questions so I can understand what it even means. So I feel I’ve increased my knowledge as times goes on.
Like finding out with some tracks, “Hold on people, these writing splits come to 120%. Something has to give.” I think you know what I am talking about.
Yeah, I look at a lot of that, and at a lot of different things on the admins side and getting to sit with sync and understanding that things have to equal 100%; and having the legal means to make sure that everything is connected with the PROs. All of that stuff. I didn’t know any of it prior to 6 or 7 years ago. But I love understanding it all, and I love being able to ask questions. And then I get to understand it, and then something changes.
As far as hip hop is concerned, have you looked into (singer, songwriter, and record producer) Fridayy who is on our roster that was featured on a DJ Khaled song?
Of course, Fridayy contributed to DJ Khaled’s five-time Grammy-nominated song “God Did” along with Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, and John Legend. He also guested on the megahit “Forever” by Lil Baby. Moneybagg (“Lies), Chris Brown (“No One Else”), and A Boogie wit da Hoodie (“Need You Around”)
He’s just an incredible A&R, and fantastic human being. I love Fridayy’s solo work too. Recently he put out a song “Without You” (Def Jam Recordings). about his father who passed away a few months ago while Friiday was on tour.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Fridayy reflected on the night he learned about his father’s death. “Got the call my Pop had passed right before I was bout hit the stage in Paris. I couldn’t tell you the feeling. I was just with him before I went on my headlining Europe tour, I was showing him the videos of the US Tour. He kept saying, ‘Wow all those ppl?? I’m proud of you son.’ I told him, ‘It’s all cause of what you put inside me.’”
Friidayy is also from Philadelphia which is very close to where I’m from in New Jersey. I love that East Coast component.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band popularized the Tom Waits’ song “Jersey Girl.”
A Jersey girl, I will forever be.
Larry LeBlanc is widely recognized as one of the leading music industry journalists in the world. Before joining CelebrityAccess in 2008 as senior editor, he was the Canadian bureau chief of Billboard from 1991-2007 and Canadian editor of Record World from 1970-80. He was also a co-founder of the late Canadian music trade, The Record.
He has been quoted on music industry issues in hundreds of publications including Time, Forbes, and the London Times. He is co-author of the book “Music From Far And Wide,” and a Lifetime Member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
He is the recipient of the 2013 Walt Grealis Special Achievement Award, recognizing individuals who have made an impact on the Canadian music industry.
