Label Look: From Vincent Mason to Wisp, Music Soup Is Heating Up — And Its Founders Are Hungry for More
Categoria: Musica
As several of the label’s artists gain steam, co-founders Sean Lewow and Max Motley say they “haven’t remotely scratched the surface” of their ambitions.
Por Billboard | 24/07/2026
In the early 2010s, Atlanta-area radio stations developed a peculiar problem: It seemed like every day, the same middle schooler, Sean Lewow , was somehow winning all of their ticket giveaways. “I had a system for doing it. It was quite literally something I’d do every single day,” Lewow, 27, says now with a grin. “Finally one day I got a call where they were like, ‘Sean, we know it’s you. Stop calling. We’ll give you the tickets, just please, for the love of God, stop pretending to be your grandmother on the phone.’” Lewow’s determination to get closer to music has driven practically his entire life. At college, he worked his way up the ranks at the student radio station and concert committee, and he became known on campus as the kid building a creative studio and management company, Ourros, from the bunk bed in his bedroom. Related Label Look: How Because Music, Home to Daft Punk & Justice, Became the ‘Record Company of Tomorrow’ Soulja Boy Requests DNA Test for Son With Ex Jackilyn Martinez Desiigner Arrested on Domestic Violence Charge in South Carolina But it wasn’t until he met Max Motley , 28, that he figured out exactly what music company he wanted to build long-term — and who he wanted to do it with. Motley was born and raised in the Bay Area, and was similarly obsessed with all things music. A former general manager of his college radio station and intern at Paradigm (which is now part of THE·TEAM), Motley had the misfortune of graduating from college at the height of the pandemic in 2020 and looking for a job in live music. “I had to move back in with my parents, we were completely sheltered in place, and I’m applying to all these jobs post-grad,” he says. “I applied to like 50 to 100 different jobs, just trying to get a first-round interview anywhere. Nothing worked.” In his desperation to break through, Motley turned to TikTok with the goal of showcasing his talent scouting chops by making content about his favorite artists. His page, @mostleymusic, was one of the earliest of its kind, taking the blog model and applying it to short-form. It quickly ballooned to more than 200,000 followers and led to A&R consultancies at multiple major labels. Eventually, both Lewow and Motley, each in their own fashion, found their way into scouting for Darkroom CEO/founder Justin Lubliner and Interscope Records CEO/chairman John Janick . “That’s where I met Sean,” Motley explains. Still under the impression that A&R was a zero-sum game, Motley laughs that “at the time I still had this mentality of, like, everyone’s the competition, and I’ve got to take everyone down.” Lewow replies cheerfully: “The whole time I’m just like, ‘I think I made a new friend!’” Related How Darkroom Founder/CEO Justin Lubliner Guided Billie Eilish to Global Stardom Fast forward to February 2022, and Motley and Lewow — now assuredly friends — joined forces to start Music Soup, a joint venture with Interscope and Darkroom. &