“Dynasty” is a big word — one thinks of the New York Yankees (well, maybe not this year), MGM Pictures, Motown — and Republic Records is deep into its reign. The company has been Variety’s Hitmakers label of the year five out of the last eight years, and it’s had the most consistently high market share of any label for the past decade. 2024 is no exception: They have a hand in nearly half of the songs on the Hitmakers Top 25.
It has also attracted an almost impossibly long list of the world’s biggest artists: Taylor Swift, Post Malone, Ariana Grande, Drake, the Weeknd, Lil Wayne, Pearl Jam, Nicki Minaj, John Mellencamp, Florence + the Machine, John Legend, Metro Boomin and even Stevie Wonder. And earlier this year, the Lipmans were elevated by Universal Music Group chairman-CEO Lucian Grainge to head a new division, Republic Corps Collective, which includes the titular label as well as the iconic Def Jam, Island and Mercury labels and the Imperial independent division.
“This past year has been a true testament to the tenacity and dedication of the entire Republic collective, showcasing their unwavering commitment to every artist and campaign,” says chairman Monte Lipman, who founded the company with his brother and vice chairman Avery in 1995.
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Partnerships are key to the Republic ethos, and during the label’s first decade it struck a multiplatinum alliance with Cash Money Records, the powerhouse founded by Ronald “Slim” Williams and Bryan “Baby” Williams, that supercharged the careers of Lil Wayne, Juvenile, Hot Boys and later Drake, Nicki Minaj and Tyga. Over the years they’ve forged similar partnerships with Big Loud Records (Morgan Wallen, who is present on four songs in the Hitmakers top 25), the Korean companies HYBE (Tomorrow X Together) and JYP (Stray Kids, Twice), Lava Records (Lorde, Greta Van Fleet), most recently Jelly Roll and BMG and more — even Swift, who has two songs in the top 25.
“She’s not only transformed the music industry by crushing what feels like every milestone, but she’s also reshaped the paradigm of both the movie and touring businesses,” Monte marvels. “It’s simply our job to support her artistic expression.” Wallen and Post — who, in a Variety interview for the Hitmakers 2019 label of the year honors, Monte predicted would be releasing a country album “some day” — have had towering years as well.
“Post Malone is the artist development story of the year,” Avery says. “He put himself in a new place [with his ‘F-1 Trillion’ country album]. It’s not easy to do all the things that he did, especially given artists’ normal career cycle. ‘I Had Some Help’ was the biggest streaming country record at that time for a male artist, so he actually broke through the ceiling again.”
Like everyany dynasty, Republic has its realm. With the Lipmans’ new roles as heads of Republic Corps — and veteran lieutenant Jim Roppo as president-COO — it includes the Republic label (headed by longtime A&R chief Wendy Goldstein), Island (with co-CEOs Imran Majid and Justin Eshak), Mercury (under Post Malone’s longtime A&R Tyler Arnold and GM Ben Adelson), Def Jam (under Tunji Balogun) and Imperial (under Astralwerks veteran Glenn Mendlinger).
Several of those executives came up at Republic. “We call it ‘Republic University,’” Monte says, “and I give Avery tremendous credit: Both Imran and Justin came in under Avery; he hired Tyler Arnold out of college; Ben Adelson had one other job before he came to us as Avery’s assistant. I mean, what Island is doing right now with Sabrina Carpenter and Chappell Roan, and Mercury with Post Malone and Morgan Wallen and the alliance with Big Loud, is just incredible.” Monte says big plans are in the works at Def Jam and Imperial as well.
“While we’re proud of all the accomplishments, we are laser-focused on the future and what lies ahead,” he concludes. “You’ll see this drive come to life with the incredible slate of releases the individual teams have planned for 2025.”