PULSE Music Group Promotes Ashley Calhoun to Head of Creative (EXCLUSIVE)

Variety Staff
·4 min read

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Pulse Music Group has promoted Ashley Calhoun to senior vice president and head of creative. Calhoun was previously vp of A&R. In her new position, she’ll be responsible for leading the Pulse A&R team and overseeing its publishing roster which includes such hitmakers as Starrah, OZ, Ty Dolla $ign, YBN Cordae, Chad Hugo, James Blake, Bonnie McKee and El-P, among others. Calhoun also recently signed Kehlani.

One of the most successful independent publishers of the last decade, Pulse was founded in 2008 and has grown to account for a client roster credited with more than 10 billion music streams.

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Exiting the company is president and head of creative Maria Egan, who spent seven years at Pulse. Writing on social media, Egan described her last day as “a bittersweet moment” and teased that “the beginning of a new journey shall be revealed very soon.” She also cheered her former employer on “a banner chart year with multiple No. 1s already in the bag (and more to come)” and hailed Pulse for its “recent show of financial and public support for organizations on the front lines of racial justice.” (The company committed $100,000 in donations, it was announced last week.)

The Los Angeles-based Calhoun, a native of Virginia Beach, Va. who moved west to study at The Recording School, joined Pulse in 2015 in an A&R capacity and went on to sign a number of charting songwriters and producers. Recent hits that feature Pulse writers include Drake’s “Toosie Slide”, Travis Scott’s “Highest In the Room and Drake and Future’s “Life Is Good,” all via OZ; Megan Thee Stallion’s “Savage Remix” featuring Beyoncé (via Starrah); and PARTYNEXTDOOR’s “Loyal” featuring Drake (via OG Parker).

“Ashley has consistently proven that she is a remarkable A&R executive adept at curating globally impactful music,” said Pulse co-CEOs Scott Cutler and Josh Abraham. “She has the ear for talent, an authentic connection to our songwriters, and the right instincts and industry relationships. Pulse was built by songwriters for the modern songwriter culture and, with Ashley at the helm of our creative team, we know that Pulse will continue to be a world class incubator for culturally relevant songs. We are thrilled to recognize all of Ashley’s achievements at Pulse with this well-deserved promotion.”

Added Calhoun, who was featured as one of Variety‘s New Leaders in 2018: “Pulse provides a sanctuary for clients at all stages of their careers, from young songwriters to the biggest names in music. Our young, driven and diverse A&R team is attracting the most cutting-edge, globally revered creators — I think the music community sees how determined we are to create career-defining moments for our writers and how successful Pulse has been at landing those big opportunities. I’m thankful to Scott and Josh for this promotion and look forward to more big things ahead as we continue building the best A&R team in the business.”

Of Egan’s departure, Cutler said: “Maria has made incredible contributions to Pulse … and has helped us to build an A&R team that is second to none and she leaves behind a legacy of hits, accolades, and empowered creative executives that has helped to shape the Pulse story. We wish Maria all success in her new endeavor.”

“I wish Ashley all the best for her new role,” added Egan. “No one could be better to take the reins of the A&R team, and I will be cheering on the company for its continued success.”

(Pictured: Scott Cutler, Ashley Calhoun and Josh Abraham.)

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