Ben Maddahi | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Benjamin Maddahi |
| Born | 1984 (age 40–41) |
| Origin | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupation(s) | Executive Vice President of A&R at Columbia Records and President of UNRESTRICTED |
Ben Maddahi is an American music executive. He is currently executive vice-president of A&R at Columbia Records and president of UNRESTRICTED, a music publishing and management company he founded in 2015. [1] From 2012 to 2015, he served as the president of Artist Publishing Group (APG), the parent company of Artist Partner Group. [2]
At Columbia, APG, and Atlantic Records, Maddahi has worked as an A&R representative with artists including XXXTentacion, [3] Jennie Kim, Diplo, [4] Koe Wetzel, [5] Jessie Murph, [6] David Guetta, [7] Chromeo, [8] Bilmuri, The Chainsmokers, John Legend, [9] Grimes, [10] Charlie Puth, [11] Demi Lovato, [12] Flo Rida, [13] Clinton Kane, [14] and Cochise. [15] As a publisher, he has had a role in shaping songs for artists including Kanye West, [16] Chris Brown, [17] Enrique Iglesias, [18] Ariana Grande, [19] Zedd, [20] Black Eyed Peas, [21] and Future. He has written and produced for artists including Jessie Murph, Koe Wetzel, Sia, Flo Rida, Justin Bieber, and Pitbull, and worked as the executive producer of Chromeo's Grammy-nominated album Head Over Heels . [22]
Maddahi was born in 1984 in Los Angeles, California. His father, Jamshid Maddahi, is a professor of Molecular and Medical pharmacology at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. [23] He began playing music at the age of five, and played drums for the Los Angeles Junior Philharmonic [24] while attending high school at Milken Community School. [25] In 2001, he enrolled at the University of Southern California, where he began producing and writing music. [26] Though he initially planned to attend law school after completing his undergraduate studies, a course he took in music management directed him further towards a career in the music industry. [27] He became increasingly focused on music, gaining his first management client -- the producer King David -- while still in college. [28] He graduated in 2005 with a degree in political science and a music industry minor. [29]
In February of 2006, Maddahi joined Atlantic Records as an A&R intern. There, he worked under A&R executive Mike Caren, who soon founded Artist Publishing Group (APG) and hired Maddahi as the company's first employee in August of that year. [30] Around this time, Maddahi also started his own management company, Madd Music Management, [31] which later operated under Atlantic. [32]
In his early years at APG, Maddahi played a role in crafting songs like Enrique Iglesias' "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" and Chris Brown's "Yeah 3x." [33] In 2010, he was promoted to Vice President of A&R at APG, and was promoted to A&R Director at Atlantic Records the following year. At APG, he then helped shape four hit singles for the rapper Flo Rida -- "Good Feeling," "Wild Ones," "Whistle," and "I Cry" -- each of which were co-written by writers signed to APG. [34] Later that year, he arranged studio sessions for David Guetta's album Nothing But The Beat , including bringing the Australian vocalist Sia in to record the topline for what later became the hit single "Titanium." [35] In December of 2012, he was promoted to president at APG. [36]
In 2014, Maddahi arranged the studio session between Charlie Puth and the producers DJ Frank E and Andrew Cedar that led to Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again," released as the lead single on the soundtrack to the 2015 film Furious 7 . [37] The track was both Puth and Khalifa's biggest single to date, spending twelve nonconsecutive weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100. [38]
In 2015, Maddahi left both Atlantic and APG to consult for SONGS Music Publishing, where he, in partnership with Ron Perry, launched UNRESTRICTED, a music publishing and artist management company. [39] Early management clients included DJ Frank E and pop songwriter Shy Carter, [40] while publishing clients included XXXTentacion collaborators John Cunningham [41] and Robert Soukiasyan. [42]
In 2017, he joined Island Records as an A&R consultant. [43]
In 2018, following the $150 million sale of SONGS' catalog to Kobalt Capital (the capital fund of Kobalt Music Group), the previous year, [44] Maddahi was hired as senior vice president of A&R at Columbia Records. There, he has worked in an A&R capacity with artists including Koe Wetzel, [45] Jessie Murph, [46] Diplo, [47] The Chainsmokers, Jennie Kim, and Bilmuri.
Several songs and albums that Maddahi has worked on have been nominated for Grammy awards, including:
In 2011, Maddahi was also listed in Billboard Magazine's "30 Under 30" list. [53]
Starting in April 2013, Maddahi appeared as 1 of 3 judges on the VH1 DJ competition series Master of the Mix for 10 episodes [54]
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