Jason Flom (born February 17, 1961) is an American music industry executive, podcaster and philanthropist. He is the founder of Lava Records, and was previously the chairman of

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

and

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

Capitol Music Group Capitol Music Group is an American front-line umbrella label operating as a unit of Interscope Capitol Labels Group, itself a division of Universal Music Group. Inherited from UMG's acquisition of EMI's catalog in 2013, it oversees the handling of ...

. He is also an advocate for those who have allegedly been wrongfully convicted.

Music industry career

In 1979, while a college freshman at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

, Flom got a job as a trainee field merchandiser at

hanging record posters in stores. In 1981, he moved to the sales research team and, in 1983, into Atlantic's A&R department. At 20, Flom departed NYU to work full-time at Atlantic. Bands he signed at the time included

Skid Row A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people " on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disre ...

and

Stone Temple Pilots Stone Temple Pilots, commonly abbreviated as STP, is an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Diego, California, in 1989. Originally consisting of lead vocalist Scott Weiland, guitarist Dean DeLeo, bassist Robert DeLeo, and drummer :Songs ...

. In 1995, Flom launched Lava Records in partnership with

. In 2004, Flom sold Lava Records to Atlantic Records Group, where he was named chairman and CEO of the Atlantic Records Group. Flom was named chairman and CEO of

in 2005. In 2007, he led a merger with

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...

to create the

, where he was named chairman and CEO. In 2007 he signed

Katy Perry Katheryn Elizabeth Hudson (born October 25, 1984), known professionally as Katy Perry, is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. She is one of the List of best-selling music artists, best-selling music artists in hist ...

. In 2008, Flom left Capitol Music Group to re-launch his own Lava Records label, this time in partnership with

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

Republic Records Republic Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Based in New York City, it was founded by Avery Lipman and Monte Lipman as an independent label in 1995, and was acquired by UMG in 2000. Republic was initially ...

. In 2013, Flom signed

Lorde Ella Marija Lani Yelich-O'Connor (born 7 November 1996), known professionally as Lorde ( ), is a New Zealand singer and songwriter. She is known for her unconventional style of pop music and introspective songwriting, and has been referred to ...

to Lava, which released her debut single, " Royals". Flom founded Lava Publishing in 2014, which has published writing from Evan Konrad, Maty Noyes, and all four members of Greta Van Fleet. In 2018, Flom co-wrote a children's book titled ''Lulu Is a Rhinoceros'' with his daughter Allison Flom - a book which follows a bulldog named Lulu who identifies as a rhino.

Notable A&R/production acts

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in 1972 in Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York (state), New York. Their best-known songs include "We're Not Gonna Take It (Twisted Sister song ...

Ratt Ratt (stylized as RATT) was an American glam metal band that had significant commercial success in the 1980s, with their albums having been certified as gold, platinum and multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, RIAA. ...

* Hootie & the Blowfish * Filter *

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock, is an American musician, singer, rapper, and songwriter. After establishing himself in the Music of Detroit#Hip-hop, Detroit hip-hop scene, he broke through into m ...

Placebo A placebo ( ) can be roughly defined as a sham medical treatment. Common placebos include inert tablets (like sugar pills), inert injections (like saline), sham surgery, and other procedures. Placebos are used in randomized clinical trials ...

* Maty Noyes *

Tate McRae Tate Rosner McRae (born July 1, 2003) is a Canadian singer, songwriter, and dancer. She first gained prominence as the first Canadian finalist on the American reality television series ''So You Think You Can Dance (American TV series), So You Th ...

* Jessie J *

Anna Graves Anna Graves is an American voice actress best known for her voice-over work on multiple video games and commercials, along with her work on the animated series '' Star Wars: The Clone Wars''. ''Star Wars'' In 2010, Graves began voicing Duch ...

* The Warning * YONAKA *

Trans-Siberian Orchestra Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill (producer), Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-pr ...

* somegirlnamedanna * Moon Taxi *Marino * Ricky Luna * Cemetery Sun *

White Lion White Lion is an American glam metal band that was formed in New York City in 1983 by Danish vocalist Mike Tramp and American guitarist Vito Bratta. Mainly active in the 1980s and early 1990s, they released their debut album ''Fight to Survive ...

Philanthropy

In 1993, he joined the board of

Families Against Mandatory Minimums Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM) is an American nonprofit advocacy organization founded in 1991 to challenge mandatory sentencing laws and advocate for criminal justice reform. FAMM promotes sentencing policies that give judges the di ...

and soon after became a founding board member of the

Innocence Project Innocence Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit legal organization that works to exonerate the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and other forms of post-conviction relief, as well as advocates for criminal justice reform to prevent futur ...

. As part of his work with the Innocence Project, Flom launched the podcast ''Wrongful Conviction with Jason Flom'' in 2016. The podcast features interviews with men and women who have spent time in prison for crimes they claim they did not commit and other activists, advocates and experts. Notable guests on the podcast include

Kim Kardashian Kimberly Noel Kardashian (born October 21, 1980) is an American media personality, socialite, and businesswoman. She first gained media attention as a friend and stylist of Paris Hilton, but received wider notice after the celebrity sex tape ...

John Grisham John Ray Grisham Jr. (; born February 8, 1955) is an American novelist, lawyer, and former politician, known for his best-selling legal thrillers. According to the Academy of Achievement, American Academy of Achievement, Grisham has written 37 ...

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group the Blo ...

, Amanda Knox, Raymond Santana, Brendan Dassey, and Rodney Reed, among others. The podcast reached #7 on the

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

charts within its first 2 weeks of release, and has since been downloaded over 10 million times. In 2018, Flom and Jeff Kempler founded Lava for Good. Its podcast series are hosted by human rights and justice experts, activists, attorneys, journalists, as well as formerly incarcerated persons. The Lava for Good lineup includes ''Wrongful Conviction'', ''Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng'', ''Righteous Convictions with Jason Flom'', ''Bone Valley'', ''The War on Drugs'', ''False Confessions'', as well as ''Junk Science''. 2021 saw Lava for Good honored with a Webby Award win in the Crime & Justice category for ''Wrongful Conviction: False Confessions''. In 2022, Lava for Good won a Silver Anthem Award for Human & Civil Rights - Best Strategy. ''Wrongful Conviction'' and ''Wrongful Conviction with Maggie Freleng'' were honored with Silver and Bronze/Listener's Choice Awards, respectively, at the first inaugural Signal Awards announced in January 2023. Flom also sits on the board of directors of the Legal Action Center, which uses legal and policy strategies to fight discrimination, build health equity, and restore opportunity for people with criminal records, substance use disorders, and HIV or AIDS. In 1999, Flom received the Torch of Liberty award from the

American Civil Liberties Union The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. T ...

. He was named Music Visionary of the Year in 2000 by the UJA Federation. In 2004, the Correctional Association of New York honored him with its social justice award and in 2005 Flom received the T.J. Martell Foundation Humanitarian Award. In 2008, Flom was honored as Partner in Pursuit of Justice by the Bronx Defenders and was awarded with City of Hope's Ambassador Award. He received the Innocence Project's Award for Freedom and Justice in 2009 and the Spirit of Life award by Russell Simmons' Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation in 2014. Flom was honored by the Innocence Project of New Orleans in 2017. At the 2022 Clio Awards, Flom was presented a Clio Music Impact Award for his work in criminal justice reform. In 2023, he was honored at the Muhammad Ali Humanitarian Awards, receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award for his work towards criminal justice reform.

References

External links

Lava Records Official WebsiteInterview, 20/20 Feb 2018Interview, Vice News March 2018
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flom, Jason American music industry executives Living people Wrongful conviction advocacy Year of birth missing (living people) The Bronx Defenders A&R people