Pete Ganbarg is stepping down as president of A&R at Atlantic Records, a role he has held since 2018, to launch Pure Tone Records, a joint venture with the label. The first artist signed to Pure Tone Records is platinum-selling Canadian singer/songwriter Forest Blakk, who Ganbarg originally signed to Atlantic.
Ganbarg, who has worked at Atlantic for nearly 16 years, will continue to A&R several acts on the Atlantic Music Group roster, including Twenty One Pilots, Shinedown, Gayle, Halestorm and more.
“The launch of Pure Tone Records as a stand-alone label is an exciting time for me,” Ganbarg said in a statement. “It's the best of both worlds – a golden opportunity to own my own store, while at the same time having the support of the great Atlantic team that I've worked so closely with over the past 15-plus years.”
“Over the past 16 years, Pete has brilliantly led our A&R mission – discovering, signing and championing a number of successful genre-crossing artists, while enhancing our theatrical presence with a number of award-winning cast albums,” Atlantic Music Group President & CEO Julie Greenwald and President & CEO of Atlantic Records Craig Kalman he said in a statement. “At the same time, he has mentored and built a fantastic A&R team that is experienced in nurturing child acts and superstars. The formation of Pure Tone is an important event for Pete and Atlantic, as he brings his decades of experience, impeccable taste and great ears to steering his own ship, and we are thrilled to be partnering with him on this exciting next phase of his musical journey”.
If the name Pure Tone sounds familiar, Ganbarg has been using the moniker for nearly two decades. He formed Pure Tone Music before joining Atlantic as an A&R consultant, whose clients included Kelly Clarkson, Chaka Khan, Santana, Aaron Neville, Donna Summer and more. He also operates a pair of publishing joint ventures with WMG's Warner Chappell Music under that name. Its writers have achieved multiple gold and platinum certifications, including the 2024 Grammy-winning record of the year, Miley Cyrus' “Flowers.”
“I can't wait to do Pure Tone [Records] a home for exceptional, original talent, and at the same time, I'm very happy to continue working with my amazing roster of artists across the Atlantic,” Ganbarg continued. “I want to thank Julie and Craig for their tremendous support over the years and for believing in joining me on this new adventure.”
New York-based Ganbarg joined Atlantic in 2008 as executive vice president of A&R. During his tenure, he signed or hosted recordings by twenty-one pilots, including Halestorm, Jason Mraz, Christina Perri, Melanie Martinez, Skillet, Brett Eldredge, Matchbox Twenty & Rob Thomas.
He also led Atlantic's huge success with Broadway cast albums, including co-signing and A&R'ing the Diamond-certified original Broadway cast recording. Hamilton. He won Grammy Awards as a producer of the original Broadway cast recordings Dear Evan Hansen and Jagged little pilland most recently supervised Broadway cast recordings for this season's Tony-nominated shows, It looks good and The notebook. He also worked on the soundtrack for The Greatest Showman and Daisy Jones & The Six.
Ganbarg began his A&R career in 1989 at SBK Records. In 1997, while at Arista Records, he also captured the 30x platinum worldwide A&R'd Santana, a nine-time Grammy Award winner. Supernatural.
There is no word on Ganbarg's successor as president of A&R.
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