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David Nathan, the founder of the management company D&D Endeavors, thinks his mentee David Stuart was bitten by the familial music “bug.”

Stuart, a Syracuse University senior, grew up going to concerts with his grandfather, Jerry Brenner, a former music promoter who worked with artists and bands such as U2, Prince and Elton John. Stuart’s aunt, Rachel Brenner, also works for the music and entertainment company The Orchard, a subsidiary of Sony Music. The “blood runs back” in Stuart’s family, Nathan said.

A student in the Newhouse School of Public Communications’ Bandier Program, Stuart created StudioArt Entertainment this semester during his senior capstone class. The company has signed three artists since the fall 2020 semester started, including one DJ who Stuart had managed independently since high school. Through the music management and artist development company, Stuart plans to apply the marketing skills he learned at SU, along with his diligent work ethic, to create a “very, very successful” business, he said.

“I knew that he wanted to (start StudioArt), I know that that’s what he’s wanted to do from the beginning,” Nathan said. “I think that he has a very bright future in front of him.”

Stuart’s first memory of judging an up-and-coming talent was during a car ride with his grandfather and aunt in 2010. The song on the radio was “Best I Ever Had” by Drake and the three of them talked about whether or not the relatively new artist would be a hit. Stuart’s grandfather loved Drake after hearing the song but wasn’t immediately convinced the artist would be a hit.

Before Brenner’s death in 2014, Stuart remembers meeting his grandfather backstage at shows, but he did not really understand Brenner’s job when he was younger. Today, he has a lot of respect for his grandfather’s work ethic and how he handled himself around so many famous artists.

“He was very well respected in the industry and he was the first person to lend a hand to help someone out,” Stuart said. “I think his favorite thing about working in the industry was getting enjoyment from watching other people be in the spotlight.”

Stuart (right) grew up going to concerts with his grandfather, Jerry Brenner, who was a music promoter. Courtesy of David Stuart

Stuart’s managing career started in 10th grade at Tenafly High School in Tenafly, New Jersey. Stuart began working with his friend Adam Koby, a DJ and producer, to book performances at under-18 clubs such as Stage 48 and Pacha in New York City.

Even if artists that Stuart reached out to did not hire him, he still offered them advice to leave a good impression, he said. This is what Stuart did to gain the attention of one of his former R&B singer and rapper clients, Jahkoy Palmer, who goes by the stage name Jahkoy.

“I just wanted to test the waters,” Stuart said. “I didn’t really know how to (manage) but I would always reach out to artists that I thought would make it big.”

Stuart direct-messaged Palmer while in high school but Palmer had a different manager at the time. When Palmer left his manager around July 2017, Palmer reached back out to Stuart. The two worked together for a year and Stuart said that he learned the difficulties of a long-distance working relationship and how to navigate a client’s baggage.

As Palmer’s manager, Stuart said he frequently communicated with Palmer’s label, Def Jam Recordings, “to get him on the good side” of the label after their relationship was strained. But Palmer decided to leave Stuart in August 2018, something that was hard for Stuart because he was the first artist he had worked with who had a record deal.

“I just thought he was an artist I wanted help,” Stuart said. “But later on I saw that he had a lot of legal issues with his manager before.”

That same summer, in June, Stuart connected with New York City rapper Ken Rebel. The new relationship excited him because he had followed Rebel’s music since middle school and Rebel worked out of NYC, which made it easy for them to connect on weekends for meetings.

Rebel and Stuart’s relationship only lasted until the following June because the longer they worked together the further their interests and work ethics grew apart, Stuart said.

Stuart learned during this time how artists can fall into sketchy contracts that leave them tied to old managers long after severing business ties. He said he wants to avoid this in his business and now stresses the importance of being transparent and honest with his clients from the beginning of their relationship.

One of the tools he uses at his label is offering prospective clients a free month to work with him before committing to a contract. The first month is also a time for Stuart to gauge the work ethic of his potential client, he said. He likes to find artists that match or exceed the amount of time he puts into the job.

“I like when artists are constantly just working on their craft,” he said.

In October, Stuart signed two new pop artists who live in Los Angeles — Casey Baer and Garren Lake — to his company. While neither of them have met Stuart in person yet due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, Stuart is finding other ways to bond with his clients, including texting with Baer nearly every day and meeting Lake on Xbox Live to play Call of Duty.

Over the last two summers, Stuart worked with David Nathan at D&D Endeavors. Nathan said Stuart helped elevate the company’s social media presence, something artists want to see their managers doing well nowadays.

“He has a great vision and a really great understanding of what to do when you walk in a marketing budget,” Nathan said.

Ulf Oesterle, an associate professor in Bandier, taught Stuart at Newhouse in the past. He and Stuart would occasionally have conversations after class that lead to Stuart asking him business-related questions. He noticed Stuart always had a plan in mind, which stood out to him.

“If you’re just making decisions without a concrete reason to do so you’re sort of flying blind,” Oesterle said.

Oesterle is currently on leave to write for a research guide on music and TikTok, as well as a book. Oesterle said that TikTok is a critical tool for any musician or creative to be involved in. Stuart believes his new artist Baer could do well on TikTok in the future.

Stuart said as he enters his last semester at SU he hopes to find students to sign to StudioArt and he is open to working with emerging artists outside of campus as well.

“Post Malone is from Syracuse, so if there is someone with the talent and dedication, I’m open to bringing them onboard,” Stuart said.

Published on December 2, 2020 at 11:11 pm

Contact Louis: [email protected] | @JBL__98