Scooter Braun's most trusted lieutenant helps manage the careers of some of pop's biggest stars, from Ariana Grande to Justin Bieber
Allison Kaye isn't going to let a little thing like pregnancy slow her down, even when she's touring the globe with one of the world's biggest pop stars. The newly-promoted president of Scooter Braun's SB Projects says she has been pregnant with each of her three kids -- Barrett (age 4), Elle (age 2) and Ryan (age 1) -- while on the road, including during Ariana Grande's 2017 Dangerous Woman tour.
"I was scaling a tower trying to deliver files from the sound board to the video guy and Scooter stopped me and asked, 'Should you be doing that?'" the 37-year-old former New Yorker -- who boasts over 400,000 Instagram followers -- recalls. "I told him, 'I'm pretty sure I shouldn't, but you're actually the only person here who knows that I shouldn't be doing it, so I'm going to keep climbing.'"
Kaye has been on a steady upward climb throughout her career. Prior to SB, Kaye was a lawyer for several record labels, and joined Braun when he launched SB Projects in 2007. Since, she's helped grow the management firm built around the career of Justin Bieber into an industry powerhouse that has tentacles in film, TV, branding, digital and technology. After a brief split with Kanye West, SB Projects is again working with the artist, and was by his side in Jackson Hole, Wy. in June for the release of his latest album, Ye.
That growth has meant an increasingly-expanded role for Kaye, who was Braun's first employee while managing a growing company in a space with a constantly-changing cast of new characters and opportunities, becoming President of SB July 31. Billboard recently sat down with Kaye to talk about her new responsibilities as Braun's top lieutenant and what it takes to break an artist a decade after Bieber.
What does your expanded role mean for you?
Scooter has really expanded the company into many different verticals over the last six years and I was the first employee, so I've expanded in all areas with him. Music remains our primary focus, but now I'm overseeing everything to make sure all verticals are working together. And we've brought in Jen McDaniels to serve as our general manager of music and she is doing a great job and frees me up a little bit. I spend a lot of time taking meetings to help Scooter expand and I've moved into a role where I'm his eyes and ears so that he is able to do what he's gotta do.
SB Projects has been in business for over a decade now. Do you still operate with a startup mentality?
It's hard for us to try and play the part of underdog, but in terms of how the company operates, it was started by Scooter who never really worked at a label or a big corporation and there aren't defined roles. I tell people to come in for the role they've been hired to do, but if they decide three months in that they hate it and there's something that they're better suited for, we will make room for them to do that if it makes sense. It's really about taking young people who are competent and passionate and helping them figure out their role. And most of our employees are so young that they can't tell you what they want to be doing in 10 years, but we're there to help them figure that out.
How has the management business changed?
What distinguished us when we started was that we were the only ones that seemed to understand the social and digital space and how to capitalize on it. Justin [Bieber] was the first artist to truly break off of YouTube. We have to be innovative because we didn't have the luxury of being able to have someone else serve as a trailblazer. And now, we're being pushed more and more every year to be more innovative, to be more creative, to figure out how to help our artists engage with their fans in a way that sets them apart. That gives us an opening to do something no one's ever done before. Management used to be very formulaic -- check this box, do this release, take this interview. None of those things need to happen anymore. A surprise album can do just as well as an album that's been promoted for three months, if it's done right.
What's more important for a developing artist: a good song or a good show?
I think it's always about the show. It's their biggest rush and leads to their biggest payoff of their job. And not just from the money, but from being on stage in front of their fans. That's what is the most gratifying for our clients. Ultimately, it's about building a solid fan base that is dedicated to your artists and cares about them so the artists can explore their craft creatively and not be beholden to expectations.
Tell me about helping plan Ariana Grande's One Love Manchester show in the days after the terrorist attack in May 2017.
One thing I love about this job is helping celebrities use their voices to make a positive change and help people who need it. Manchester obviously hit close to home because it was Ariana's show and watching her go through that and seeing something I didn't know she had in her was one of the most gratifying moments of my career. I don't know anyone that has inside themselves what Ariana has. Whether it was meeting with the victims and their families or getting back on stage that night and going back on tour a week later, the strength she showed was incredible. And it was not an easy show to pull off -- there was an obstacle at every turn, but we kept our heads down, didn't take no for an answer and raised a lot of money to help these kids and their families.
Not all artists you sign are looking for breakthrough moments. Scooter recently signed Zac Brown, who has enjoyed a very strong career before joining SB Projects. Why did he come over?
Scooter and Zac have known each other since they both lived in Atlanta. They're friends and it's a very big passion project. He's been in the studio working on music and Scooter is going to help him focus. Keep in mind, Zac is already huge and plays baseball stadiums, but I think what excites him is the business opportunities. He's got a summer camp, a wine, a festival, spirits -- you can't visit Atlanta and not have an interaction with Zac Brown.
What is going to be the challenge for Scooter working with Zac?
This is isn't a situation where Zac came to us because something was wrong. We're here to help him grow. Everything runs like clockwork and we're just there to help make it better.
This article originally appeared in the Aug 2 issue of Billboard.com.
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