This story appeared in the Spring 2021 Letters & Science magazine.
Jeremy Vuernick still remembers the call.
It was 2014, and Vuernick, a 2011 UW-Madison graduate in journalism and mass communication, was hanging in a New York City bar with friends, when another friend buzzed his cell, raving about an artist he “had” to meet. Vuernick, who worked as an artist and repertoire (A&R) manager for Astralwerks Records, managed to connect with her a few days later.
That artist turned out to be Halsey, then an unknown, struggling singer-songwriter who’d only just begun making her name on Tumblr and Facebook. Over a meal of lobster rolls, Vuernick signed her to a recording contract. Today, she’s a Grammy-nominated artist, named one of People magazine’s most influential people of 2020.
“She was couch-surfing at friends’ houses,” Vuernick recalls. “She dropped her duffel bag in my cubicle, and we talked about life and experience. I was mesmerized, blown away by her.”
That experience is the epitome of Vuernick’s current gig. As of January 2021, he’s the executive Vice President of Capitol Music Group, one of the largest record labels in the music industry. Vuernick’s roster includes Marshmello, Katy Perry, and Troye Sivan, as well as projects with Paul McCartney and Tom Misch. It’s also his job to always be searching for—and then signing and taking care of—the Next Big One.
“As an A&R guy, you’re only as good as the projects you work on and the people you sign,” Vuernick says, from his office in Los Angeles. “My job is being the artist’s protector, making sure their message doesn’t get messed up along the way. For me, it’s about the love of and passion for music.”
Vuernick, 31, grew up in New York, and had always been inspired by poetry, drawing and music. When his older brother went to UW-Madison, he decided to follow him there, but sitting in his entry-level art and art history classes, he found his mind beginning to wander.
“I started to wonder, what would my career path be?” he recalls. “I realized I wanted something at the intersection of art and commerce.”
He found it at the J-School, focusing on marketing and strategic communications. But he also did some important learning outside the classroom. At every step, his decisions about what to study, and which skills to add to his repertoire, positioned him to take advantage of opportunities when they arose. As a result, doors have opened all the way to the top.
As an undergraduate, Vuernick became a student brand ambassador for Electronic Arts, surveying students and organizing events at Madison bars to promote the massive video game publisher’s latest releases of Madden and NBA Live. At the same time, he was also splashing the local music scene, bringing friends into Madison bars to DJ, at a time when electronic music, one of his favorite musical genres, was just beginning to explode.
“That’s always been the key,” he says. “Understanding audiences.”
Vuernick taught himself basic graphic design skills to create eyeball-grabbing concert fliers, logos and Facebook banners. Internships with Momentum Worldwide, the PR company that handles golf events like the PGA Tour, and with MTV made all the difference as graduation approached. Vuernick landed an online media manager gig at Ultra Music in New York, a record company that repped several artists in Vuernick’s beloved EDM genre, including Steve Aoki and deadmau5.
“I was that young kid who loved music and knew how to connect with fans, because I was one,” says Vuernick. “But my wi-fi at the time wasn’t so great. I did my interview for that job in Memorial Library.”
Three days later, he was set up in New York, doing everything from coding to digital marketing campaigns for upcoming shows. When he found himself at a club talking with Ultra Music’s CEO, he took the opportunity to ask about making the move into A&R. His whirlwind experience is what put him in position to jump to Astralwerks in 2013, just two years after graduating from UW-Madison.
“I learned all the ins and outs,” says Vuernick. “My time at Ultra was an opportunity to see the music industry from 10,000 feet.”
Vuenick’s aware of the stereotype about the A&R guy--an empty suit, a corporate number-cruncher who doesn’t care much about the music he’s busily commodifying, as long as it sells. He is the antithesis of that, a down-to-earth music-lover who understands and embraces his role.
“It’s always music first, commerce second,” says Vuernick. “For me, it’s a question of how you manage that in a way that’s truthful.”
His tireless work ethic and eye for finding talent soon caught the eye of Ashley Newton, the president of Capitol Music Group, Astralwerks’ parent company. In 2017, Newton invited Vuernick to move to Los Angeles.
Vuernick’s signings, meanwhile, continue to pay dividends. Six years ago, he discovered and signed synth-pop DJ Porter Robinson, helping him release his debut album, Worlds. This year, “Goodbye to a World,” one of the singles from that album, resurfaced and went viral on TikTok, helping to push the song to more than 30 million streams on Spotify.
“I was the first one to hear his demo,” says Vuernick. “You want to be the first one.”
It’s not surprising that down time is scarce for Vuernick. Last fall, his girlfriend had to kidnap him to get him to belatedly celebrate his birthday with an afternoon away from the office. Still, he grabs breaks when he can. “I try to rest my ears every once in awhile,” he says. “I’ll get in the car and just sit in silence.”