Audio Up has named industry veteran John Ingrassia president of music, to handle all endeavors under the company’s recently launched Audio Up Music. Jared Gutstadt, founder and CEO of podcast production studio, platform and network Audio Up Media made the announcement Thursday. Ingrassia already has led the charge in developing a number of significant deals with Primary Wave, Warner Records and Sony Music.
He began his career at Sony Music, where he was Executive Vice President, overseeing the daily operations for Columbia Records Group before becoming President of the Commercial Music Group following the merger of Sony Music and BMG.
Country music superstar Miranda Lambert will contribute original music, executive produce, and voice a role in the upcoming scripted, country musical podcast, “Make It Up As We Go.” Recording artist and actor Machine Gun Kelly (Colson Baker) will executive produce, star in and contribute original music to the upcoming horror/musical podcast, “Halloween in Hell.” Projects by 24kGoldn, Lindsay Ell, iann dior, and JaVale McGee, and more names will be announced soon.
“After spending the first part of my music career working for one of the major record companies, and then the last decade supporting artists at one of the best management companies in the business, I am more than excited to join Jared in his latest venture and create new opportunities for music discovery through the exploding medium of podcasts,” said Ingrassia. “Even as the popularity of podcasts has increased exponentially in recent years, music has been underserved, and Audio Up’s mission is to develop innovative programming that incorporates music that can stand on its own–the perfect compliment for telling stories in a pure audio medium.”
“John and I believe that podcasting is poised to become the next great discovery platform, not only for developing artists, but also for established artists looking to release new content in innovative ways, particularly in these uncertain times, as well energizing the vast catalog of music that is available thanks to streaming services,” added Gutstadt.