Lyor Cohen

Lyor Cohen is an American music industry executive who has helped shape the evolution of the music business over the course of his career and is currently the Global Head of Music at YouTube and Google. As a 21 year-old living in New York City working for Rush Productions, Cohen felt the power and pull of the arts and the cultural movement being built around rap and hip hop music; it was all about inclusivity, not exclusivity.  From his time as road manager for Run DMC and the Beastie Boys, to developing the prestige of Def Jam Recordings and selling it to Universal, to managing Island, Mercury and Def Jam, which he merged to create the Island Def Jam Music Group, to becoming the Chairman and CEO of Recorded Music for Warner Music Group (WMG) and then co-founding 300, Cohen’s career has been dedicated to advocating for artists and songwriters, uplifting art and proving to the world that music brings us together more than it separates us. Along the way, Cohen has been intimately involved in the careers of over 100 artists from day one through super stardom.  Cohen sits on the board of both the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the National Independent Venue Association, and is an acting Director for SCAN-Harbor, a New York-based charity.