Tom Corson

Tom Corson is an American record executive. He is the co-chairman and chief operating officer of Warner Records, a position he has held since January 2018. He was previously the president and chief operating officer of RCA Records.

Early life and education

Corson was born and grew up in Seattle, Washington. He moved to Los Angeles in 1978 to attend UCLA. He interned at IRS Records during his junior and senior year, and graduated from UCLA in 1982 with a BA in business/economics.

Career

1980s: IRS Records, A&M Records

Following his graduation, IRS hired Corson as director of West Coast sales; in 1985, he was named director of West Coast promotion. At IRS—a "giant of the post-punk era"—he worked with artists including the Go Go's, R.E.M., the English Beat and General Public.
In 1985, Corson moved to A&M Records to become the executive assistant to the label's president, Gil Friesen. As Friesen's executive assistant, Corson performed roles in special projects, product management, international marketing, marketing, and A&R at the label. He was named vice president of marketing in 1989. At A&M, Corson was recognized for his role in the success of artists including Soundgarden, Simple Minds, and UB40.

1990s: Capitol Records, Columbia Records

Corson was hired by Capitol Records as vice president of international in 1990, and was promoted to senior vice president of domestic marketing in 1993. He oversaw the global campaigns for MC Hammer's two Capitol releases, ''Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em'' and ''Too Legit to Quit'', which together sold more than 17 million copies worldwide. He also worked closely with Radiohead, who released their major label debut, ''Pablo Honey'', in 1993. and orchestrated the marketing campaigns for Mazzy Star and the Frank Sinatra ''Duets'' album, among others.

In January 1996, Corson was named senior vice president of marketing for Columbia Records and moved from Los Angeles to Columbia's headquarters in New York City. During Corson's tenure, Columbia's market share increased, with hit records in multiple genres including pop (Train), rock (System of A Down) and Latin music (Ricky Martin) in addition to soundtrack releases such as ''Armageddon'' and ''Men in Black''. Corson left Columbia in December 1999 to accept a position as senior vice president of worldwide marketing at Arista Records.

2000s: J Records, Arista, RCA Music Group

After an industry outcry when parent company BMG ousted Arista founder and CEO Clive Davis from the label in 2000, BMG invested $150 million to launch J Records, a joint venture with Davis. An "instant major," Davis hired Corson as executive vice president of worldwide marketing. J was a success from the start, with the label's inaugural release, Alicia Keys' ''Songs in A Minor'' selling over 12,000,000 records worldwide. That same year, O-Town's self-titled debut achieved multi-platinum sales; ''Inside Magazine'' called its marketing plan "one of the most elaborate star-making campaigns of the modern media age."
J Records dominated the charts during its three-year existence as a standalone label, releasing hit records by artists including Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Hudson, Alicia Keys, Pearl Jam, and the winners from the ''American Idol'' franchise. Rod Stewart's ''Great American Songbook'' releases became the biggest-selling ongoing series of new music recordings in history, and Luther Vandross had the first #1 record of his career, '' Dance With My Father''.

In 2002, BMG bought a majority stake in J and folded it into the RCA Music Group—which also included Arista—and appointed Davis president and CEO. Corson was named executive vice president and GM of Arista/J in 2004; there, he oversaw releases from Dido, Whitney Houston and Santana, among others. In 2007, Corson was appointed executive vice president and GM of RCA Records. He held a central role in restructuring the company in the wake of a series of mergers.

2010s-present: RCA Records, Warner Records

In 2011, Corson was promoted to president and COO of RCA Records by Doug Morris, the CEO of parent company Sony Music Entertainment. He was noted for his role in the success of artists including A$AP Rocky, Kelly Clarkson, Miley Cyrus, Foo Fighters, Jennifer Hudson, Dave Matthews Band, Kesha, Kings of Leon, Miguel, P!nk, and Justin Timberlake.

Corson was named co-chairman and COO of Warner Records in December 2017, and led the transition from Warner Bros. Records to Warner Records with Aaron Bay-Schuck, Warner's CEO. He has worked closely with Andra Day—he executive produced the Academy and Golden Globe-nominated soundtrack for ''The United States Vs. Billie Holiday''—and oversaw the release of albums and singles by Dua Lipa, Saweetie, Bebe Rexha, Josh Groban, The Black Keys and Michael Bublé, among others.

Corson was an executive producer of the 2021 documentary ''Tom Petty, Somewhere You Feel Free: The Making of Wildflowers.'' The film won a Producers Guild Award in 2022.

Philanthropy

In 2020, Corson was named inaugural chair of the board of advisors for the UCLA School of Music Business, the first music school within the University of California system. He sits on the executive committee of the board of directors for the TJ Martell Foundation, an organization which funds leukemia, cancer and AIDS research and is a member of the Music and Entertainment Industry Board for City of Hope.

In June 2016, Corson and Peter Edge, the CEO and chairman of RCA, received the UJA Music Visionary of the Year award. UJA, supports a network of nonprofits that provides food, medicine, job training and more to people in need in more than 70 countries.

Recognition

Corson has appeared on the annual ''Billboard'' "Power 100" every year from 2012 to 2022. He has lectured at New York University, USC, and UCLA, and was the keynote speaker at the Harvard Business School's Entertainment and Media Conference in January, 2015.

Selected discography/videography

References

External links

Warner Records

{{DEFAULTSORT:Corson, Tom
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people
American music industry executives
Businesspeople from Seattle
American chief operating officers
University of California, Los Angeles alumni