Wolfgang Boss is a German music executive, producer and president of A&R for Sony Music Entertainment company. [1] Wolfgang holds the position of Sony Music's Executive President A&R globally since 2012. With more than 100 gold and platinum certifications Wolfgang Boss is one of the most successful A&R executives of the last two decades.
Boss entered the music world during his university studies. After working as a DJ, he became a club manager and established his own house music club, MACH 1. This brought him into regular contact with international DJs and artists in the house scene. In 2003 his Berlin-based company Mach 1 Records GmbH became a partner in the newly founded house label, Ministry of Sound Germany. Just one year later Boss's new label MACH 1 scored two number-one hits with Dragostea Din Tei (Haiducii) and Obsessión (Aventura). The latter held the top spot on the German charts for seven weeks.
In 2005 Boss teamed up with German producer Reinhardt "Voodoo" Reith to create the music for their Crazy Frog project. [2] The single "Axel F" by Crazy Frog became the most sold single worldwide in 2005 topping the charts in more than 30 countries.
In 2007 Boss accepted an offer from Universal Music and founded B1 Recordings as a joint venture with Universal Music Germany.
Releasing hits by artists such as Stromae (Alors on Danse), Edward Maya (Stereo Love), Pitbull (I know you want me), Lucenzo & Don Omar (Danza Kuduro) and Klingande (Jubel), B1 Recordings frequently topped the charts.
B1 Recordings´ release of the single "Ai Se Eu Te Pego!" by Brazilian artist Michel Teló, which came out at the end of 2011, was a worldwide hit, reaching no 1 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and it was the most downloaded song in Germany at the time. Two more releases of B1 are in the Top 10 of the most downloaded songs in Germany ever: Gotye's "Somebody That I Used to Know", and Israel Kamakawiwo`ole (IZ) "Over The Rainbow".
In 2014 Boss entered a long-term partnership with Sony Music Entertainment. His label B1 Recordings and Sony have since been working exclusively together on new releases. He also holds the global position of Executive Vice President A&R.
In 2019 B1 Recordings expanded its presence into new markets with France, the UK and Russia which hold their own local representative B1 label within the Sony Music structure.
With Sony Wolfgang Boss was instrumental in the signing of electronic music super star artists like Kygo, Martin Garrix and Paul Kalkbrenner and he is part of the A&R team of these artists helping them creating global hits like Garrix´ ´Scared to be Lonely´ and Kygo´s ´Remind me to Forget´.
In 2018, B1 Recordings released the track "In My Mind" by Lithuanian Producer Dynoro which went to #1 in 13 countries – ranking Shazam's global No.1 for eight weeks – was #1 in the German charts for almost three months and 2018's most successful song. The track amassed more than 1.5 billion streams.
A year later, Boss saw another success with Grammy for Best Remixed Recording awarded hit single ‘Roses (Imanbek Remix)’ by US- Rapper SAINt JHN. [3] The Remix production of Kazakhstan-based Producer Imanbek topped several Charts reaching #1 in numerous countries including UK, Ireland, Australia, Netherlands, NZ, Belgium, Hungary, Czech Republic and Slovakia. The track held the Global Shazam #1 for 13 consecutive weeks and reached Top 5 of the US BillboardHot 100. In late 2020, ‘Roses (Imanbek Remix) went on to amass 1 billion streams on Spotify and 2 billion streams across all platforms within a year of its release. [4] In 2020, Boss released a remix cover of 'Goosebumps' by Spanish Producer HVME which claimed top global positions. The track was eventually re-released as a Joint Venture between B1 & Epic Records in early 2021 with Travis Scott as the leading artist. [5] Both versions together have reached more than a billion streams on Spotify.
In 2022, B1 Recordings released the Hit Single 'Deep Down' by Brazilian No.1 DJ Alok, Ella Eyre, Kenny Dope and Never Dull which topped global Spotify playlists and was added to several Top 50 charts in airplay, commercial and shazam with the UK as the leading market, followed by 'All By Myself' a collaboration between Alok, Sigala and Ellie Goulding and 'Work With My Love' that saw Alok working with James Arthur continuing the success of the previous releases.
To date, Boss has overseen and released a substantial body of hit singles that have collated more than 1 billion streams on Spotify alone, including: Saint Jhn - Roses (Imanbek Remix) ; Dynoro - In My Mind ; Travis Scott X HVME / HVME - Goosebumps; Regard - Ride It; Kygo & Selena Gomez - It Ain`t Me; Martin Garrix - Scared to be Lonely; Martin Garrix - In The Name Of Love; J Balvin & Willy William - Mi Gente; Gotye - Somebody that I Used To Know; Don Omar & Lucenzo - Danza Kuduro; Kygo - Firestone.
At the German ECHO 2011 music awards on 25 March 2011, Boss and Jon de Mello received the Hit of the Year ECHO for Over the Rainbow by Israel Kamakawiwo’ole. The Hawaiian singer, often known simply as IZ, recorded the song three years before his death in 1997. Boss bought the rights to release the single in Europe in 2010. Over the Rainbow topped the German charts for four months in late 2010 and early 2011, selling over 800,000 copies, which made it the top-selling single of 2010 and the most downloaded song of all time in Germany at that time. The song and the corresponding album Facing Future have also enjoyed success outside Germany. In France, for example, the single reached number one and the album went platinum.
"Ayo Technology" is the fourth single from 50 Cent's third album, Curtis (2007). It was released on July 24, 2007. The song, featuring Justin Timberlake and vocals from Timbaland, who also produced the song along with Danja, has peaked at number five on the Billboard Hot 100. Internationally, the song peaked within the top ten of the charts in many countries, including Australia, Denmark and the United Kingdom. The song has since been covered by Milow, a Belgian singer-songwriter whose version was successful in a number of countries, including Belgium, Spain, Germany, Italy, and the Netherlands. The song was also covered by Greek-Belgian singer Katerine Avgoustakis.
"Supergirl" is the debut single from the German band Reamonn. The song is from their first studio album Tuesday. It was written by the complete band and produced by Steve Lyon. The single was released on 27 March 2000 by Virgin Schallplatten and was later certified Gold in Germany.
Swiss recording artist Stefanie Heinzmann has released six studio albums and 18 singles as a lead artist. In 2008, Heinzmann won SSDSDSSWEMUGABRTLAD, a talent contest hosted in TV total on the German ProSieben network, and was subsequently offered a recording contract with Universal Music Domestic. Her coronation song "My Man Is a Mean Man" debuted straight on top of the Swiss Singles Chart and reached the top ten in Austria and Germany. Heinzmann's debut album Masterplan was released in March 2008. It made it to the top ten in Austria and Germany and also debuted atop the album charts in Switzerland, where it was certified platinum by the IFPI for sales in excess of 30,000 copies. The album was reissued the same year and followed by her second album Roots to Grow in September 2009. Albeit less successful commercially, it peaked at number four on the Swiss Albums Chart and made it to the top twenty in Germany. Leading single "No One " reached the top thirty of the Swiss Singles Chart.
Frans Zimmer, better known by his stage name Alle Farben is a German DJ and producer. Since 2014 Zimmer is signed to the record label Guesstimate/b1 Recordings and the publishing house Budde Music.
"She Moves (Far Away)" is the 2014 debut single by German DJ and producer Alle Farben from his debut album Synesthesia - I Think in Colours and features the vocals of Graham Candy. It was released on Sony Music. The song was co-written by Frans Zimmer (real name of Alle Farben), Graham Candy, Jan Hammele and Andreas Huber.
Annika Klose, known professionally as Anna Naklab, is a German singer-songwriter. Naklab grew up in the town of Northeim in the German state of Lower Saxony near Göttingen, Germany. Singers and bands that inspire her very much are Adele, Amy Winehouse and Room Eleven.
Aron Michael Ekberg, better known by his stage name AronChupa, is a Swedish rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ and record producer. His 2014 song "I'm an Albatraoz" reached number 1 on the Swedish Singles Chart and in Denmark, and top 10 in many charts across Europe. It also reached number 25 in the UK and number 10 in the US dance charts. His younger sister, Nora Ekberg, better known professionally as Little Sis Nora, provided the vocals for the track and starred in the music video, but never appeared as featured artist on the track. The music video has surpassed 1.35 billion views on YouTube.
"Firestone" is a song by Norwegian DJ and record producer Kygo, featuring vocals from Australian singer Conrad Sewell. It was released on 1 December 2014 and reached number one on the Norwegian Singles Chart and became a big international hit for Kygo on many other charts. Birdy performed a cover of the song on BBC Radio 1's Live Lounge.
The discography of Dutch DJ and electronic music producer Martin Garrix consists of a studio album, two compilation albums, four extended plays (EP), three DJ mixes, 84 singles, 47 music videos and ten remixes. Part of the Dutch emergence of electronic dance music DJs, Garrix became widely known after his single "Animals" became a worldwide hit. It went number one in the United Kingdom, Belgium, and on the US Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, and it reached the top ten of several charts across Europe from late 2013 to early 2014. Garrix is the youngest Dutch artist to ever have a number one single in the United Kingdom.
Rene Pais, better known by his stage name Syn Cole, is an Estonian DJ and record producer.
Tobias Topic, also known mononymously as Topic, is a Croatian-German DJ, producer and musician. His song "Home" was certified platinum in Australia and Germany.
"In the Name of Love" is a song recorded by Dutch DJ and record producer Martin Garrix and American singer Bebe Rexha. The song was produced by Garrix, Matt Rad, Steve James and Simon Says. It was released on iTunes and streaming services after he premiered the song at Ultra Music Festival 2016. A remix EP was released on 11 November 2016, consisting of three remixes featuring DallasK, The Him and Snavs.
"Goosebumps" is a song by American rapper Travis Scott featuring fellow American rapper Kendrick Lamar. It was sent to rhythmic radio on December 13, 2016, by Grand Hustle Records and Epic Records as the third single from Scott's second studio album, Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight.
German DJ Robin Schulz has released five studio albums, two DJ mixes, 40 singles and one promotional single. Schulz achieved his worldwide breakthrough with his remix of Mr. Probz's "Waves" (2014), which reached the top ten of the charts in over ten countries, while further peaking within the top ten in various other. It was also certified—among others—Platinum in both the United Kingdom and the United States. While the disc jockey's follow-up recording, "Prayer in C" (2014), was met with similar commercial acclaim, two fellow singles from his debut studio album Prayer (2015) were released, including a collaboration with Jasmine Thompson.
The discography of Norwegian DJ Alan Walker consists of four studio albums, seven extended plays, 55 singles, 33 remixes and 21 music videos.
Edvinas Pechovskis, known professionally as Dynoro, is a Lithuanian DJ and music producer. He is best known for his international hit "In My Mind", which interpolates the hook from "L'amour toujours" by Italian DJ Gigi D'Agostino. In 2019, his remix of the "Rockstar" song with Ilkay Senkan gained wide popularity.
"Roses" is a song by Guyanese-American rapper Saint Jhn, originally released on July 22, 2016 and later included on his 2018 album Collection One. Originally produced by Fallen, it was remixed by Kazakh producer Imanbek and released as a single on September 18, 2019. The remix of the song helped the song gain international recognition after it was featured on a Snapchat filter and on video-sharing app TikTok where it received over 4.5 billion plays in the month of April 2020. On May 27, 2020, a second remix produced by Quay Global and Fallen was released with American rapper Future. On July 20, 2020, a music video was released for the second remix. The remix's music video budget was bumped to help bail funds for arrested protesters and aid black-owned businesses and the Black Lives Matter movement, all regarding the George Floyd protests that started during May 2020.
Imanbek Maratuly Zeikenov, known professionally as Imanbek, is a Kazakh DJ and record producer. In 2019, he became known for his remix of Saint Jhn's "Roses". In 2021, Imanbek won a Grammy for his remix of "Roses", becoming the first Grammy recipient from Kazakhstan, and the first Grammy award winner in a non-classical category from within the CIS.
"Too Much" is a song by American record producer and DJ Marshmello and Kazakh record producer Imanbek featuring American singer Usher. It was released on October 23, 2020, via Joytime Collective.
"Sweet Dreams" is a song by British-Norwegian DJ Alan Walker and Kazakh Imanbek, released as a single on 11 June 2021. The song samples the Scatman John track "Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)" and was a hit in both Norway and Sweden. A remix contest of "Sweet Dreams" was launched in partnership of Alan Walker and the digital workstation, FL Studio.
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