Jem Aswad is the Deputy Music Editor of Variety, where he writes about music industry news with a focus on live music.
He joined the Variety team in 2017 with Shirley Halperin, Executive Editor of Music; together they launched the music section of Variety magazine. Their intention was to not only cover music business news but to forge a leading role with a strong voice in industry-shaping conversations. For Variety, he writes on singers and events ranging from stories about music icons (i.e. Bob Dylan), female-empowering music videos, photo book projects, to social media headlines, and the list goes on.
As a knowledgeable and respected voice in the music industry, Jem has been invited to a variety of news platforms to share his thoughts on a spectrum of topics in music culture, such as misogyny in pop culture, blockbuster music deals, and the Beatles documentary. He continues to make repeated appearances on Good Morning America and CBS This Morning in addition to various radio news. If his schedule wasn’t already packed with writing and making news appearances, Jem also lectures on the music business in the Bandier Program at Syracuse University and New York University.
Jem began his career in the music industry as an assistant editor of Faces Rocks, a metal monthly magazine no longer in existence.
Prior to joining the Variety team, he was penning articles in editorial roles for Billboard, MTV News, Spin, Time Out New York, and CMJ. Besides writing about music news, Jem has held A&R (artists and repertoire) and marketing executive positions at Atlantic, Warner Bros., Caroline Records, and ASCAP.
Jem is a trustworthy source of music news and we can’t wait to hear what he and Ted Cohen will chat about! Hang out with these two industry veterans on June 2nd at 2:00 pm – 3:00 pm CST HERE!
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