Why Warner Records Is Reinvigorating Reprise: ‘Artists Should Be Free to Be Exactly Who They Are’
Categoria: Musica
Longtime A&R executive Jeff Sosnow lays out his vision for what the label founded by Frank Sinatra should be under his purview.
Por Billboard | 05/08/2026
The music industry loves its history. The business is full of iconic names with decades of history: Columbia, Capitol, Atlantic, RCA, Warner and Island are all labels with venerable pasts and formidable presents, many of which are also associated with powerful and lauded founders and executives through the years. In the past year alone, several iconic imprints of the past have been revived such as Jive and Uptown , while the Virgin Music and Mercury Records brands have been relaunched to great success within the past half decade, to name a few. Related Jeff Sosnow Named President of Reprise Records, Expanding Warner A&R Role BE:FIRST Is Ready for the World: Inside the J-Pop Superstars' Long-Planned U.S. Breakthrough Glenn A. Baker, Australian Music Historian and Former Billboard Correspondent, Dies at 74 One of those iconic labels with an iconic founder is Reprise, founded by Frank Sinatra in 1960 and owned by Warner Records since 1963, which has in its long history been home to a glittering array of artists like Joni Mitchell , Jimi Hendrix , Randy Newman , Ry Cooder and Neil Young , and more recently, Green Day , Deftones and Michael Bublé . But while its roster has always been diverse, the label has long kept to the ethos established by founder Sinatra and his longtime attorney and business partner Mickey Rudin , and set in stone by its longtime president and legendary Warner executive Mo Ostin : that artists came first, and that they should have control over their own careers. Last December, Warner decided to reinvigorate Reprise by naming longtime A&R executive Jeff Sosnow as its president, under the purview of Warner Records co-chairman/CEO Aaron Bay-Schuck and co-chairman/COO Tom Corson . (Corson last week was also named COO of Warner Music Group .) Sosnow has a reputation as an artist-first A&R with wide-ranging taste: over the past dozen-plus years, he has signed the likes of Benson Boone , Rüfüs du Sol , Nessa Barrett , Billy Strings , Brandy Clark and The Neighbourhood , among others, to the Warner Records roster. Now, he’ll bring several of those artists with him over to Reprise, which will be home to Strings, Clark and Rüfüs du Sol in addition to Bublé, Josh Groban , Weezer , Deftones, My Chemical Romance , Green Day and The Linda Lindas , while Reprise will also remain the home of Young, who has remained on the roster since 1969. “Reprise was built on the idea that artists should be free to be exactly who they are, with artist individuality and creative freedom at its core — without compromise,” Bay-Schuck says. “We saw an opportunity to reimagine the label for today’s landscape, creating a home for artists with distinctive voices, bold visions and long-term careers. I also believe it’s important to give artists choices. At Warner Records Group, every one of our brands has a unique perspective and Reprise was often one of the labels artists asked about when considering signing to W