JUSTIN (BLADE) NEWSOME

BLADEPHAROH was founded by Justin (Blade) Newsome, a music executive, A&R and artist-development strategist whose career has been built primarily inside music -- but rarely inside only one corner of it.

His work has included A&R and artist development for major-label and entertainment partners, as well as consulting directly with individual artists, independent clients and smaller businesses across a much wider range of music-industry problems.

That work can mean analyzing a song. Developing an artist. Coaching stage work and movement for live performance. Working through branding, image or social strategy. Building a marketing plan. Mapping out a year of career development. Helping somebody understand the business they are trying to enter. Advising on music-industry strategy or policy.

Newsome holds an M.A. in Music Business from Berklee College of Music. He has taught classes around the country and judged talent competitions, adding formal study and education to years spent doing the work directly with artists and companies.

His career has also moved outside the traditional A&R lane -- through media strategy, sales, corporate environments, business, film and television, startups and independent consulting.

Those experiences did not stay in separate boxes. They affect how he thinks about artists, audiences, positioning, business models and the systems now being built under BLADEPHAROH.

His entertainment work also includes American Idol, Boy Band, studio sessions with Selena Gomez and Demi Lovato, pre-breakout work with Sabrina Carpenter and development work with Emblem3.

He has consulted independently since 2012.

Partnerships, speaking, advisory work, or something genuinely interesting.