In the hip-hop world, Lyor Cohen is considered one of the most famous figures of our time, not only for spearheading and redefining the future of the music industry, but also for his passion. his diverse music.
Since Lyor Cohen joined YouTube as Global Music Director, he’s been on a mission to revolutionize the platform’s relationship with artists. While many artists favor his humanistic approach to music over a data-driven approach, others are harshly critical of that approach. Regardless of what people think of him, his ideas have made waves in the industry and will likely continue to do so in the future.
Net worth: 75 million USD
Lyle Cohen is 61 years old and has a net worth of $75 million. The music mogul began his career with degrees in global marketing and finance before working on several music gigs in Los Angeles. In 1989, he took a giant leap in his music career when he moved his work to labels rather than artists.
From 2004 to 2012, he served as the President and CEO of Warner Music Group and is credited with developing the brand on YouTube and Spotify. After leaving Warner, Cohen founded his own independent company, 300 Entertainment, and was named YouTube’s global music director in late 2016.
he comes from an immigrant family
Lyor Cohen was born in New York to an Israeli immigrant family, the son of an Israeli Army general. In 2014, when commenting on the Israel-Palestinian conflict, he said, “Extremism on both sides is the real villain in the peace process.”
He believes that only patience and a long healing process can resolve conflicts and that no quick solution can lead to lasting peace.
He experienced a pulmonary embolism in 2016
Pulmonary embolism is a serious condition caused by a blood clot that blocks a pulmonary artery. In April 2016, shortly after the inauguration of the NWA Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Cohen was hospitalized with a pulmonary embolism. He later assumed that Aziz was the son of a second marriage and the best friend who had saved his life that day.
he’s already kissed three times
Lyor Cohen is married to EK Smith, a fashion model he met while filming the Beastie Boys’ “Fight for Party Rights” video. Flavor Flav even wrote about their marriage in the Dominican Republic in his book, claiming he threw the couple in the pool. In 1990, two years after his first marriage, Cohen married Amy, who also divorced 16 years later.
In 2016, the music mogul married Li Xin, a former Chinese basketball player and now vice president of Christie’s Asia. Their lavish wedding took place at Cohen’s Hamptons beach house.
His early interest in art and music came from his parents
In an interview, Cohen recalled how his father, a child psychologist, introduced him to music by playing “non-stop Southern jazz and classical music.” Calling his family “bohemian,” Cohen said his parents have always enjoyed opera, literature and ballet.
However, unlike Cohen, they are less commercial and more focused on liberal arts and cultural interests. Cohen calls himself “the black apple of the family” because he leans more towards the commercial and capitalist side of art.
Before entering the music industry, he worked in a bank
After studying finance and international marketing, Cohen followed the traditional career path and began working at the National Bank of Israel, Leumi Bank, in Los Angeles, earning a salary of $14,000 a year.
He hates his banking job and knows his true calling is in the music business, especially after seeing hip-hop group Uncle Jamm’s Army in Civic Center, Los Angeles. Not long after, he took the opportunity to borrow $700 from his mother for his first gig, earning him $36,000. His early success is now recorded in music history.
Cohen is not a fan of the Grammy Awards
In a recent interview, Cohen was asked for his thoughts on The Weeknd being dropped from the Grammy nomination. In response, he recalled his performance at the 2012 Grammy Awards despite winning o bro, where are you?Before the results were announced, he walked out of the awards ceremony.
Additionally, he claims that he has been hesitant about the awards ever since he learned about the intricacies of how the Grammys work.
He believes the definition of a record label is evolving
When Cohen was asked about his thoughts on artists quitting the music industry, his response was surprising. He says he welcomes artists to take this step, because artists may not need labels as much as they used to, at least not in the conventional sense.
This explains why he is so interested in expanding YouTube’s presence in the music industry and trying to encourage music labels and organizations to invest in the platform.
He always has a unique way of solving problems
At the age of 22, Cohen landed his first job as a road manager on the young Run-DMC’s first European tour. Just minutes before the show, they discovered that their DJ, the late Jam Master Jay, had forgotten to bring all of his records backstage.
Although terrified, Cohen jumped out of the box, walked on stage, and announced that Run-DMC would sign, but that they would prioritize those with their own records. It was a defining moment in his career, and he clearly made the most of it.
Most importantly, he really wants to sign new artists
Throughout his bumpy music career, Cohen was always eager to break new ground with new artists and bring new variety to the release format.
He is known as one of the most influential artists in the traditional music industry. But he prefers the idea of new opportunities for artists to further advancement. He sees the subscription models used by Apple Music and Spotify as a start, but they have limitations. For him, YouTube, benefiting from Google and Google’s algorithms, is the future.