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Eric Brown

@ericrennerbrown

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editing @billboard | covered concerts @pollstar_official | words @ew @rollingstone @gq @vulture @people | opinions about jam bands | 🎨 by @mokonaut

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I think about how much of what we’ve built started with a conversation, when someone had an idea and someone else believed in it enough to take a chance. We didn’t know exactly how we’d get there, but we believed our artists could go further, and we kept finding a way together. Somewhere along the way, this became my dream too. This job, the people I get to work with, what we get to do every day. I get so caught up in what’s next that I don’t always stop to appreciate how far we’ve come.

Seeing my name next to Executive of the Year made me do that. I’m proud. And it brings up a lot. The early days, how much we had to figure out along the way, and the people who believed in it with me.

There’s a lot of trusting your gut in this business. Sometimes you get it right. Sometimes you’re wrong and have to own it, learn and try again. I’ve had both. I’ve also been lucky to have people around me who challenge me, believe in what we’re building and help us find a way forward when things don’t go as planned. That’s how those dreams have become real, over years of work and people who keep showing up for each other.

To the artists, managers and agents who have trusted us, thank you for taking those chances with us. I know what your dreams mean to you, and being trusted to help bring them to life is something I never take lightly.

And to my team, I’m proud of you and grateful for you. You’ve put so much of yourselves into what we’ve built. The care, the perseverance, the honest conversations and all the work that happens out of sight. You’ve made me better, and you’ve helped take this further than I could have on my own. I hope you see yourselves in this recognition, because you’re a huge part of it.

Thank you to our Live Nation colleagues and partners around the world, the crews who bring every show to life and the fans who give us a reason to keep dreaming bigger.

And thank you to @leilacobo , @billboard, @billboardlatin and @ericrennerbrown for this recognition and for telling our story.

Feeling proud and grateful today. For how far we’ve come, and especially for the people I’ve gotten to share it with.

Gracias

@livenation
@livenationlatino

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A little over a year ago, we all sat around a Barney's Beanery table & the idea of @forgemusicgroup came about. In the time since, we have been blessed to work across two #1's on the Hot 100, eleven songs in the top 10 of Hot 100 & seven #1 albums on the Billboard 200 as well as countless other releases that are all special in their own way.

We're endlessly grateful for the incredible artists, writers & producers who allow us to be apart of their journeys / story on a day to day basis. None of this would be possible without them! Can't wait to see what the future has in store for all of us🥂

Words by: @ericrennerbrown
Photo by: @camgazaway_

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Thank you @billboard for including me in your 40 under 40 list. Grateful to @laufey and my partners and team @foundations who empower me to do the work I love every day.

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@sad13 THANK YOU! ♥️🥁☀️ 1331 is a different enough project for me that i was feeling some anxiety on the “is it actually good” spectrum—so i’m thrilled to hear my online pals like these songs, and to have some kind words from writers i respect 😭 “I Am Now Completely Invisible,” “Art Institute” and “Watermelon Manicure” out now, full 1331 mixtape on 7/10 from @explodinginsound!

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THANK YOU! ♥️🥁☀️ 1331 is a different enough project for me that i was feeling some anxiety on the “is it actually good” spectrum—so i’m thrilled to hear my online pals like these songs, and to have some kind words from writers i respect 😭 “I Am Now Completely Invisible,” “Art Institute” and “Watermelon Manicure” out now, full 1331 mixtape on 7/10 from @explodinginsound!

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“How A Shattered Elbow, Liz Phair and ‘Philly Malarkey’ Shaped Sad13’s New Mixtape Of Hypershort Songs“

@Billboard talks to Sadie Dupuis about new project ‘1331’

✍️: @ericrennerbrown

@sad13 #sad13 #billboard #newmusic

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Sad13 - 1331
a mixtape of 13 ~1 min-long songs, out 7/10 via Exploding In Sound
recorded & produced by me at home
the first 3 tracks are out today, plus a self-directed video for “Watermelon Manicure”

in may 2024, i wrote daily “theme songs”—less personal, more communal. i think of these tracks as “the UArts one,” the “activists are releasing bugs in courthouses!!” one. there’s also a “trolling the mayor” and an “i’m hot (?)” one—i sang with dirtbag perspective, steely dan mode. despite the brevity, these are more dense & playful than any tracks i’ve produced, true faves

1331 sat in my notebook a year when i shattered my elbow & a comic litany of bonus life plagues kept cropping up. usually i track a record in ~2 weeks; this took all of 2025. a benefit was i could take influence from a widened range of sounds and A TON of gigs. i got excited to engineer and perform these entirely solo for the first time in 15 years, & mastering collaborator @emilylazarlodge picked up my freq slack with her and @lodgemastering’s @bobdemaa on co-mix. @explodinginsound is a glad return to the BFF-heaviest roster; thrilled A-team longtimers @jessifrick @jaclynulman are here too!

big thx @ericrennerbrown @billboard for my first 1331 interview—i said “DIY hell” a lot—i’m verklempt reading this thoughtful feature, mega appreciated at a time when media workers are stretched so thin (another subject of this mixtape). re: DIY hell: i committed to the bit by painting the cover, self-portraiting the press photos, and directing this video (thanks to AD, my mom)

“watermelon manicure” has triple intention: it’s about whether visual gestures of solidarity are frivolous (no), whether to bother with people who won’t take words at face value (i.e. willful misinterpretation of “fr33 p4l3st1n3”), and ethical throughlines that inform everything we do. i shot each scene at 3 speeds to speak to consistency across time, and while i clearly had fun wearing bachelorette party favor gloves, it’s always me & my hands at work

no physical 1331s for now BUT pre-order a stupid t-shirt (guess who designed it) to ship next month. enjoy these new songs, i’m thrilled to get to share the rest with you soon!!!

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More 2025 food

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2025 ✨

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They got me, gal. 💔
I was one of the unlucky staffers who was laid off at Billboard last week. This was the job of my dreams, the kind of job that I had been striving for since I was a pimple-faced teenager obsessing over song lyrics. And while I’m very sad that my time at BB was cut short, I count myself extraordinarily lucky that I got to spend the last eight years of my life doing what I love. I got to work with some of the most talented people I have ever met, many of whom I’m happy to say I call friends today. I interviewed artists that I have looked up to for most of my life like Lady Gaga, Madonna, Queen, Sam Smith and hundreds of others. I wrote three cover stories (one of which won a GLAAD Media Award), countless print features and did so much more that made me regularly say, “Well, I guess I’ve peaked early.”
But more than all of that, I remain incredibly grateful that I was given the opportunity to provide a spotlight to queer and trans artists in the pages of one of the most revered music publications in the world. I strived every day to try and highlight the hard-working, unbelievably talented artists in my community who deserved more than the minimal attention they received in our media landscape, especially when it wasn’t easy or convenient to do so. It is my sincere hope that the elimination of my position as Pride editor at Billboard doesn’t end that desperately needed representation, and that the numerous, exceptional LGBTQ+ artists that I had hoped to work with in the future still get opportunities for the coverage they’ve more than earned.
I’m working out where to go from here — any and all opportunities are welcome, my DMs are open 😉 — but for the time being, I’ll keep smiling thinking about all the wonderful experiences I got to enjoy and unbelievable people I got to call friends and co-workers because of this once-in-a-lifetime job. 🎶🫶🌈

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It’s been a busy October! Earlier this month, I attended New York Comic Con for the first time since leaving EW, and it felt good to prove I could still cover my favorite annual pop culture event. I had the time to check out some comics panels for once, and even moderated a panel on the Main Stage! With the producer and voice stars of “Adventure Time: Fionna & Cake”! And of course, got to see some awesome cosplayers.

Then I headed to Chicago for a fun bachelor weekend with some of my best friends and my sisters, the greatest “best men” I could ask for! (Just look at that shirt they made for me, heh) Yes the wedding is still months away, but fall is my favorite season so I wanted to do it now!

Then I met Gracie and her mom in Maine for some R&R, and got to check out the absolutely magnificent fall colors out there! Hope you’re all enjoying autumn 🍂

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@kinggizzard's latest album Phantom Island is out now via @pdoomrecords 🦎

More from @billboard via the 🔗 in our bio.

✍️: @ericrennerbrown
📸: @maclayheriot

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