Lucas Keller

Lucas Keller (born 1984) is an American music executive and manager. He is the president and founder of Milk & Honey Management which represents a number of prominent songwriters, producers, and artists. He was included in the 2018 ''Billboard'' 40 Under 40, an annual list of the top young executives in music, and was named one of seven fast-rising executives on the ''Billboard'' Power 100 list that same year.

Biography

Keller was born and raised in the Waukesha suburb of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the son of an architect and interior designer. He began as a guitarist in a local band and worked as a promoter for Phenomenon Concerts. He attended the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh for four years before dropping out in 2006 to pursue a career in entertainment.

Keller moved to Chicago and managed bands for Uppercut Management which is best known for managing Kid Rock. In 2008, he moved to Los Angeles and worked for management firm The Collective where he became the youngest executive in a department that managed Linkin Park, Enrique Iglesias, Kanye West, Peter Gabriel, and others. Among his clients during this time was Scott Weiland; Keller helped negotiate his separation in 2013 from Stone Temple Pilots in court. He also signed reggae artist Jimmy Cliff and won a Grammy Award for Cliff's 2012 comeback album ''Rebirth''. Keller left The Collective shortly afterward.

Milk & Honey Management

Keller founded Milk & Honey Management in 2014, self-financing and initially operating from his home. Among the clients who followed him from The Collective was songwriter and former Evanescence member David Hodges, who co-wrote the company's first hit song, Christina Perri's " A Thousand Years". Keller and Hodges also co-founded the publishing company Third & Verse together in partnership with Kobalt, Keller and Sir Nolan founded Deep Cuts Publishing, and Keller and client Oak Felder partnered with publisher Reservoir on the joint venture The Orphanage Music Publishing. The Orphanage has released singles by artists including John Legend, 5 Seconds of Summer, and Kehlani.

Since its founding, Milk & Honey's roster, which includes Hodges, Sir Nolan, Oak Felder, Charlie Handsome, Rich Costey, and Oliver Heldens, has sold more than 400 million records. Clients have been credited on songs including Nick Jonas' "Jealous", Alessia Cara's "Here" and "Scars to Your Beautiful", Selena Gomez and ASAP Rocky's " Good for You", James Arthur's "Say You Won't Let Go", Demi Lovato' " Sorry Not Sorry", Dua Lipa's " IDGAF", the Backstreet Boys' "Don't Go Breaking My Heart", Panic! at the Disco's " High Hopes", Khalid and Normani's " Love Lies", Bebe Rexha's " I'm a Mess", Big Boi's " All Night", DJ Khaled's " No Brainer", Ben Rector's " Brand New", Fifth Harmony's "All in My Head (Flex)", Rag'n'Bone Man's "Human", Maren Morris and Vince Gill's "Dear Hate", Charlie Puth and Wiz Khalifa's "See You Again", Luis Fonsi and Demi Lovato's " Echame la Culpa", Kehlani's "Distraction", Galantis and Hook n Sling's "Love on Me", Steve Aoki and Louis Tomlinson's "Just Hold On", " Money in the Grave" by Drake featuring Rick Ross, "Miss Me More" by Kelsea Ballerini, The Chainsmokers and 5 Seconds of Summer's "Who Do You Love", Lewis Capaldi's "Hold Me While You Wait", Kygo's "Stargazing", Calvin Harris and Rag'n'Bone Man's "Giant", Khalid's " Better", Kelly Clarkson's "Because of You", Daughtry's " What About Now", Bryce Vine's "Drew Barrymore" and "La La Land" featuring YG, Blink 182's "California", " Lalala" by Y2K and bbno$, "Get Into It (Yuh)" by Doja Cat, " Levitating" by Dua Lipa, "Butter" by BTS, and "Afterglow" by Ed Sheeran.

In January 2018, Milk & Honey signed producer/songwriter duo Andres Torres and Mauricio Rengifo, who produced Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee's hit song "Despacito". During the week of July 10, 2018, seven songs on the Mediabase Top 40 chart featured credits from Milk & Honey signings. Keller's clients have sold over 400 million records worldwide, had number 1 songs in five different genres (country, dance/electronic, pop, rock, and rap), and received eight nominations at the 61st Grammy Awards in 2019. The company has offices in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Dallas, London, and Amsterdam.

Sports

In 2021, Milk & Honey launched a sports division and rebranded the company as Milk & Honey Music + Sports + Ventures. The sports division is led by longtime agent Jacob Presser and former University of Arkansas running back Rawleigh Williams, and at launch had 15 NFL players as clients, including Courtland Sutton, Damien Wilson, Damiere Byrd, and Kamren Curl.

Other work

Keller has been vocal about improving Spotify royalty rates for songwriters and ensuring the future value of writers' catalogs. In April 2019, after Spotify and other streaming companies appealed a U.S. Copyright Royalty Board decision to raise songwriter royalty rates, Keller organized an open letter signed by over 100 participants in Spotify's "Secret Genius" initiative for producers and songwriters, including Louis Bell, Greg Wells, Teddy Geiger, Ian Kirkpatrick, Frank Dukes, Mike Elizondo, T-Minus, Scott Harris, Ross Golan, and Shane McAnally. In part the letter reads "Now, we can see the real reason for your songwriter outreach. You have used us and tried to divide us but we stand together...Do the right thing and drop your appeal." Keller has been vocal in his opposition to the rising number of copyright infringement cases in the music industry, calling them unfair for songwriters and the songwriting community.

Keller has also been active on behalf of LGBTQ individuals in the industry; in 2018, he co-hosted with James "JHart" Abrahart and Brett "Leland" McLaughlin the inaugural "Out to Brunch" luncheon, a gathering of LGBTQ artists, songwriters, and other creatives in the music industry intended to foster collaboration and community. Notable attendees at the event included Troye Sivan, Justin Tranter, Ilsey Juber, Ferras Alqaisi, and Adam Lambert. He co-hosted the second annual Out to Brunch event in 2019, with notable attendees including Jesse Saint John, Vincint, Carlie Hanson, and Dorian Electra. In 2019, Keller was named on ''Billboards inaugural Pride List as one of the leading LGBT executives in the music business. Keller was named to Billboard's 2020 list of 100 Change Agents, honoring individuals changing the music business through advocacy. He was named to the ''Variety'' list of Hollywood's New Leaders of 2021. He was named to the ''Out Magazine'' list of the Out100 9 LGBTQ+ Names at the Forefront of Beauty and Business.

Notable clients

Keller represents 48 clients through Milk & Honey, including

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Keller, Lucas
1984 births
Living people
American music managers
Businesspeople from Milwaukee
American business executives
American music industry executives
Gay men