Date Signed: Summer 2022
Label: Nvak Collective/Columbia Records
Type of Music: Pop
Management: Nvak Collective
Booking: Marty Diamond - Wasserman Music
Legal: Debbie White - Loeb
Publicity: [email protected]
Web: @rosalinnmusic
A&R: Warner Chappell
At 19, pop singer Rosa Linn was playing with a band in her home country of Armenia. Stepping off stage, she got approached regarding her desire to participate in a songwriting camp. Her response? She would think about it.
On the final day of eligibility, she submitted a video of herself performing an original composition. The powers that be liked it enough to accept her into the program, created by L.A.-based Nvak Foundation. The organization, founded by Armenian-Americans Tamar Kaprelian and Alex Salibian, is on a mission to dig up opportunities for artists hailing from emerging markets. Having been impressed with Linn during the two-week shindig, the duo became her managers.
Then came the suggestion she enter “Snap,” a tune the trio penned, into 2022’s Eurovision Song Contest. “Since I was eight, I was watching Eurovision with my family,” acknowledges the rising sensation, now 21. “I was like, ‘Mom, I’m going to be on this stage one day.’ So, when you get that chance, it’s like a sign from the universe.” Though she didn’t win, the exposure rocketed her into the spotlight. “Snap” became a Top 40 hit in the U.K., started getting streamed two million times a day, and was woven into more than 400,000 TikTok videos.
Major labels noticed Linn’s homage to freeing the soul. Columbia Records was one that came calling. They’d been made to feel confident by the success of “Snap” and her comfortability singing on a TV show broadcast to 200 million. “Most of my favorite artists are signed to Columbia and Sony Music,” she exclaims. “It’s a dream come true.”
Linn characterizes the deal as artist-friendly. Columbia even brought along her team, recognizing the role they served in her development. The artist never spoke with the label’s representatives before inking the contract. Instead, she let Nvak guide the decision, knowing she had a savvy team watching out for her best interests.
Subsequently, she’s written with members of Max Martin’s team. Performing and recording continue apace. Linn sagely understands she isn’t at an end, but a beginning. “If you have a successful song, it doesn’t mean you’re a superstar. You need to work harder to not just be a one-hit wonder.”
– Andy Kaufmann
