Downtown Music Publishing has announced the appointments of Andrew Gould as Senior Vice President and Head of A&R, North America and Corey Roberts as Vice President of A&R Research. The announcement was made by Downtown CEO Justin Kalifowitz.
In his new role at Downtown, Gould will oversee the company's A&R, writer relations, and creative development operations in North America, reporting to Kalifowitz.
Prior to joining Downtown, Gould served as Co-Head of A&R at BMG, where he played a critical role in providing creative and organizational leadership. Joining in 2012, Gould was pivotal to the careers of talents like Jon Bellion, Bebe Rexha, Jason Evigan, Max Frost, Lewis Capaldi, and Andra Day, whose work with Gould on "Rise Up" led to two Grammy nominations in 2016. Gould's recent success stories include placing The Monsters & Strangerz' co-written multi-format smash single "The Middle" with Zedd, Grey and Maren Morris, and signing Calum Scott, whose debut album went to Number One on the iTunes album chart across 19 countries around the globe.
With over 17 years of experience in the music industry, Gould started his career at Epic Records, where he assisted the making of Sony's priority pop acts, before moving to EMI Music Publishing, where he was an early champion of Sia and worked closely with hit-makers Savan Kotecha, Jim Jonsin, and Toby Gad. Gould received his MBA from The Wharton School ('11) and is passionate about music industry advocacy. This past June, he was elected to the LA Chapter of the Grammy Board, where he co-chairs the Advocacy Committee.
Downtown has also named Corey Roberts as Vice President of A&R Research, based out of the company's New York City headquarters. Reporting to Gould, Roberts will be responsible for the discovery and study of the analytics behind artists and songs, both new and old, in order to identify potential new opportunities for Downtown. Before joining Downtown, Roberts led A&R Research at SONGS Publishing, where he was part of the team who discovered and signed trailblazers like Lorde and Desiigner. Prior to SONGS, Roberts helped shape A&R research at UMPG, Motown Records, and Epic Records.
"Modern songwriters need partners in both thought and action -- partners who can support them in their mission to bring the best possible songs into the world," said Kalifowitz. "In Andrew, we have found a strong advocate for the global songwriting community. One who recognizes that song copyrights are not units of currency, but rather the building blocks of popular culture. As we continue to increase our investment in the next generation of songs and songwriters, we are excited to have a proven leader like Andrew mentoring our team and supporting our clients alike."
Of the announcement, Gould said, "The best songwriters possess the rare gifts of heightened observation and awareness in order to create art that matters. Downtown approaches the publishing space in the same way. Justin and his team have a completely fresh perspective on what a great publishing company looks like today and in the future, both in terms of supporting the creative process and staying at the forefront of innovation. I am thrilled to step into this role at this exciting time in music, and work alongside Corey and the talented A&R team in LA."
Gould's West Coast team will include Taeko Saito, Vice President, International A&R; Dylan Silbermann, Senior Manager of A&R, and Jacqueline Burnham, A&R Coordinator.
Gould is the second senior executive to join Downtown in Los Angeles this month as the company continues bolstering its staff on the West Coast. Last week the company announced that industry veteran Bruce Lampcov came on board to helm its West Coast Business Development team.
