Monte Lipman is an American

music industry executive A music executive or record executive is a person within a record label who works in senior management and makes executive decisions over the label's artists. Their role varies greatly but in essence, they can oversee one, or many, aspects of a re ...

and film producer. He is the founder and current CEO of Republic Records. Over the course of his career, he has worked with a wide range of artists, including James Blake,

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

Florence + the Machine Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, Ariana Grande,

Taylor Swift Taylor Alison Swift (born December 13, 1989) is an American singer-songwriter. Her discography spans multiple genres, and her vivid songwriting—often inspired by her personal life—has received critical praise and wide media coverage. Bor ...

Amy Winehouse Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer and songwriter. She was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix of musical genres, including soul, rhythm and blues and jazz. A membe ...

Post Malone Austin Richard Post (born July 4, 1995), known professionally as Post Malone, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. Known for his variegated vocals, Malone has gained acclaim for blending genres and subgenres of hip ...

The Weeknd Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (born February 16, 1990), known professionally as the Weeknd, is a Canadian singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. Known for his sonic versatility and dark lyricism, his music explores escapism, romance, and ...

, Pearl Jam, Jack Johnson,

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his catchy brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrument ...

, and numerous others. He is the brother of Avery Lipman.

Early life and education

Lipman grew up partially in Montclair,

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

and graduated from Montclair High School. After high school, Lipman went to college at the

University at Albany The State University of New York at Albany, commonly referred to as the University at Albany, UAlbany or SUNY Albany, is a public research university with campuses in Albany, Rensselaer, and Guilderland, New York. Founded in 1844, it is one ...

where he served on the university's concert board. There, he was in charge of finding acts to perform on campus and setting up concert events. He graduated in 1986 with a degree in communication and rhetoric.

Career

1986–2000: Career beginnings and first Republic Records run

After college, Lipman worked at a variety of record labels over the course of 9 years. In 1995, Lipman co-founded Republic Records with his younger brother, Avery. The first act they signed was Bloodhound Gang.

KROQ KROQ-FM (106.7 MHz) is a commercial radio station licensed to Pasadena, California, serving Greater Los Angeles. Owned by Audacy, Inc., it broadcasts an alternative rock format known as "The World Famous KROQ" (pronounced "kay-rock"). The st ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

picked up the band's record, " Fire Water Burn". Their next client was Chumbawamba. After listening to a demo of the band's album, ''

Tubthumper ''Tubthumper'' is the eighth studio album and the major label debut by English rock band Chumbawamba, released on 1 September 1997 by EMI. The album was written and produced by Chumbawamba, with additional production from Neil Ferguson. A musica ...

'', the Lipman brothers immediately offered to sign them to a deal on their imprint, a co-venture with

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. The band's album went on to sell over 10 million copies worldwide. This began the Lipmans' long-term relationship with

Universal Music Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch– American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

in which they have held positions at the organization in one form or another since then. Other major acts signed in Republic's early years included 3 Doors Down and

Godsmack Godsmack is an American rock band from Lawrence, Massachusetts, formed in 1995. The band is composed of lead singer and rhythm guitarist Sully Erna, bassist Robbie Merrill, lead guitarist Tony Rombola and drummer Shannon Larkin. Since its form ...

(among others).

2000–2012: President of Universal Records and Universal Republic

In January 2000, Lipman was named the President of

, and Republic Records was folded into that company. Early in his tenure, Lipman oversaw Universal Records' first ''Billboard'' 200 number one album with Nelly's '' Country Grammar''. In his first six years there, Lipman oversaw acts like Jack Johnson,

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

Hinder Hinder is an American rock band from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, formed in 2001 by lead singer Austin John Winkler, guitarist Joe "Blower" Garvey, and drummer Cody Hanson with bassist Mike Roden and guitarist Mark King joining in 2003, solidify ...

, and Damien Marley along with Republic holdovers, 3 Doors Down and Godsmack (among others). In 2006, Universal Records was merged into Republic, forming the label Universal Republic Records. Lipman became the President and CEO of that new entity. In that role, Lipman signed artists like

Colbie Caillat Colbie Marie Caillat (; born May 28, 1985) is an American singer-songwriter. She rose to fame through social networking website Myspace. At that time, she was the number one unsigned artist of her genre. After signing with Universal Republic ...

India Arie India Arie Simpson (born October 3, 1975), also known as India Arie (sometimes styled as india.arie), is an American singer and songwriter. She has sold over five million records in the US and ten million worldwide. She has won four Grammy Awards ...

, Mika, Enrique Iglesias, and Florence + the Machine by 2011. Lipman also formed strategic alliances with other labels in order to cross-promote musicians, including

and

The Band Perry The Band Perry are an American band composed of siblings Kimberly Perry (lead vocals, guitar), Reid Perry (bass guitar, background vocals), and Neil Perry ( mandolin, bouzouki, background vocals). They signed to Republic Nashville in August ...

with

Big Machine Records Big Machine Records is an American independent record label, distributed by Universal Music Group. Specializing in country and pop artists, Big Machine is based on Music Row in Nashville, Tennessee. The label was founded in September 2005 by fo ...

and Drake,

Nicki Minaj Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty (; born December 8, 1982), known professionally as Nicki Minaj ( ), is a Trinidadian-born rapper based in the United States. She is known for her musical versatility, animated Flow (rapping), flow in her rapping, alter e ...

, and Lil Wayne with

Cash Money Records Cash Money Records is an American record label founded in 1991 by brothers Ronald "Slim" Williams and Bryan "Birdman" Williams. Distributed by Republic, formerly known as Universal Republic, the label has been home to a roster of mostly hip ...

. In 2011, Lipman came across videos of Ariana Grande singing cover songs on YouTube and was so impressed by her vocals that he went on to sign her to a recording contract.

2012–present: Return to Republic name

In 2012, Universal return the company to its original name, Republic Records. Lipman helped produce the

soundtrack A soundtrack is recorded music accompanying and synchronised to the images of a motion picture, drama, book, television program, radio program, or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack ...

for the film, ''

The Hunger Games ''The Hunger Games'' is a series of young adult dystopian novels written by American author Suzanne Collins. The first three novels are part of a trilogy following teenage protagonist Katniss Everdeen, and the fourth book is a prequel set 6 ...

''. By 2013, Lipman had added artists like

Gotye Wouter André "Wally" De Backer (born 21 May 1980), better known by his stage name Gotye ( ), is a Belgian-Australian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. The name "Gotye" is a pronunciation respelling of "Gauthier", the French cognat ...

PSY Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...

, and

to the Republic fold. In February 2013, Lipman signed another new contract to remain with Republic Records and was also given the new title of Chairman and CEO of the company. In 2014, releases from Ariana Grande and Taylor Swift along with a variety of soundtracks led Republic to become Nielsen's number 1 label in market share. In 2015, Lipman led Republic Records to topping '' Billboard'' lists for Top Label and Top Hot 100 Label (among others). The label was, in fact, named the Top Hot 100 Label by ''Billboard'' each year from 2014 to 2018. In July 2018, Republic held the top three spots on the ''Billboard'' 200 list, a feat that had not been accomplished in 15 years. Drake's ''

Scorpion Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always en ...

'' was number 1, Florence + the Machine's ''

High as Hope ''High as Hope'' is the fourth studio album by English indie rock band Florence and the Machine. It was released on 29 June 2018, by Republic and Virgin EMI Records. It was preceded by the singles " Sky Full of Song" and "Hunger". "Patricia" w ...

'' number 2, and Post Malone's ''

Beerbongs & Bentleys ''Beerbongs & Bentleys'' (stylized in lowercase) is the second studio album by American rapper and singer Post Malone, released by Republic Records on April 27, 2018. The album features guest appearances from Swae Lee, 21 Savage, Ty Dolla Sign, N ...

'' number 3. In November 2018, Lipman signed Taylor Swift to Republic Records. Her music had been released by Big Machine Records in partnership with Republic since 2007.

Philanthropy

Outside of music, Lipman is engaged in numerous philanthropic causes. He sits on the boards of the Amy Winehouse Foundation; the

T.J. Martell Foundation Tony Martell (June 23, 1926 – November 27, 2016) was an American music industry executive and philanthropist. He was the founder of the T.J. Martell Foundation, the music industry's largest foundation for leukemia, cancer and AIDS research. Care ...

(which honored him with the "Humanitarian of the Year" award in 2010); the

UJA-Federation of New York UJA-Federation of New York ( United Jewish Appeal⁣ – ⁣Federation of Jewish Philanthropies of New York, Inc.) is the largest local philanthropy in the world. Headquartered in New York City, the organization raises and allocates funds annuall ...

(which named him 2015's "Music Visionary of the Year"); and DKMS (Delete Blood Cancer). In 2016, Lipman and his wife Angelina were honored at the 10th Annual DKMS Gala for their contributions to the organization. Among other honors, Lipman also received the

Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation The Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation (MMRF) is a charitable organization dedicated to multiple myeloma, an incurable blood cancer. The MMRF runs as if it were a for-profit business, expecting high returns from the money the organization rais ...

's "Spirit of Hope Award" in 2017 and was one of four honorees at the 2018 Angel Ball.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lipman, Monte Living people American music industry executives University at Albany, SUNY alumni American company founders American philanthropists Universal Music Group Year of birth missing (living people)